Down with 'Bucks!

I love China, just in case you were wondering. It is my second (or third) home. Some of my best friends in the world live there, and they love it, too.

And one of the reasons I love China I can't put into words. So I'll just summarize the article I linked to from above.

The Imperial Palace (otherwise known as the Forbidden City) in Beijing is one of the country's top cultural and tourist attractions. It is opposite Tianamen's Square from the mausoleum of Chairman Mao Zedong, who ruled the country from 1949 until his death in 1976. He was throughout his life vocally anti-American and anti-capitalist.

Yet today, not a kilometer from his final resting place, you will find a capitalism that is so in-your-face it almost makes you long for the pastoral life of yore. Of course there are the blaring neons of KFC and McDonalds. But there are also the ubiquitous young university students promising to show you ancient antiques and artwork, all the while luring unsuspecting tourists to charming tea rooms where they are sometimes shaken down for cash.

But has a Western corporation finally crossed the line of decency and cultural pride in China? It seems that Starbucks (the trendy and uber-sensitive hucksters of Seattle coffee) may have done just that. For not long ago they opened up a location in the Forbidden City. That's right. In the Forbidden City. As in--inside one of the ancient imperial residences-turned-museums. (Try to stop and think how you might react if say, Ellis Island or Colonial Williamsburg, became the site of a new Ikea superstore.)

And here the political and cultural elites in China are caught between a rock (patriotic pride in Chinese antiquities) and a hard place (old fashioned corporate greed). At least one politician and one media personality in China have started a campaign to give Starbucks the boot from the palace.

But my one question arising out of all this (having toured the Imperial Palace myself), what will they do about the English signs? No, not the funny mis-translated ones. I mean these:

That's right. Perfect English for tourists brought to you by none other than American Express. And there are at least 50 of these throughout the Forbidden City.

And that is one reason why I love China.