It may be the Forbidden City, but apparently this Imperial-Palace-turned-tourist-attraction in Beijing, China, wasn't so forbidden to Starbucks (it opened a store there in 2000).
Now, thanks to Chinese bloggers, the coffee shop's days may be numbered:
One of the most incongruous sights of the globalised age - the Starbucks coffee shop inside Beijing's Forbidden City - could soon be a thing of the past after a furious online campaign for it to be relocated outside the palace's 600-year-old walls.
In response to this latest demonstration of “netizen” power in China, the guardians of the ancient site have announced plans to review the presence of the Seattle-based coffee chain. A decision on its future will be made within six months, the local media reported today. [...]
According to local media, half a million people have signed his online petition and dozens of newspapers have carried prominent stories about the controversy. "The Starbucks was put here six years ago, but back then, we didn't have blogs. This campaign is living proof of the power of the web", said Rui. "The Forbidden City is a symbol of China's cultural heritage. Starbucks in a symbol of lower middle class culture in the west. We need to embrace the world, but we also need to preserve our cultural identity. There is a fine line between globalisation and contamination."
mmmm.... what's the 'quality' of the Chinese netizens? maybe we should "griffith" their Ip adresses...
12.5.5.5 wu@grand.ministry.of.economic.war.com ....
In the mean time, military dictatorship as a government: free pass.
Also, when it's about flooding the world with cheap crappy stuff by the containerload while exploiting their own citizen in factories with no workers' rights, I don't see no blogger outcry. That's your cultural identity right there.