Travel China and Beyond

Starbucks and the Forbidden City — too much noise about what?

Over the last week there have been a bunch of articles in several newspapers in China and overseas about whether or not the Starbucks location in the Forbiddent City in Beijing should stay or go. There has been a tremendous number of postings on various sites and comments to newspapers from Beijingers who appear to be in a oversensitive state of protectionism and nationalism — i.e. “….Starbucks should not be in one of the most visited national monuments in China…

My response to all this noise is “What is the big deal…?” The Starbucks location in the Forbidden City is located in a very discrete small building (it was used centuries ago by visitors who waited there for an audience with the Emperor). The actual Starbucks signage and logos are barely visible and you really need to be close by in order to notice it. The building itself is preserved in the traditional style of the rest of the buildings and is very non-obtrusive. So all in all it is just an issue of actually being there, rather than being visible.

At the same time you need to know that other corporate logos are VERY visible around the Forbidden City — e.g. the American Express logo is on most if not all plaques that describe the sites…. Of course it will be — American Express has contributed significant funding for the restoration of the site.

Also, I would say, the Forbidden City has other problems to solve — e.g. how it is organized and how tourists can find the multiple attractions inside. It is rather confusing place, the various exhibits are not easy to locate. I have been there multiple times over the years — the first time in 1987 (when I was a foreign student in China/Beijing) and as late as the Spring of 2006. Things are still not very orderly.

So rather than nitpicking about whether or not there could be a coffee house on the premises (no matter if it is Starbucks of one of the Chinese copycat establishments — e.g. IBC Coffee), I believe the management of the Forbidden City should spend significant effort in improving the organization and arrangement of the museum.

Don’t take me wrong — the Forbidden City is a grand museum — but it will benefit further more from some organization.