For many, there is nothing like a fix of Starbucks coffee, even in china.
I like it because of the variety of flavors, says this client.
The popular American coffee chain has 200 shops in china. Its crown jewel is this one, inside the walls of the Forbidden City in Beijing.
But maybe not for long, not if this man can do anything about it.
Ruichenggang, an anchor at China Central Television has started the campaign on his blog to out Starbucks from China’s historic imperial palace courtyard.
Starbucks, he says, is a symbol of low end U.S. food culture, and an insult to 5000 years of Chinese civilization. Hundreds of thousands Chinese who read his blog agreed.
Starbucks says it deliberately put a discreet logo on its ---------*, the only western shop inside the Forbidden City, out of respect for its environment.
The issue is dividing the Chinese on the mirrors of global capitalism.
Beijing is being eroded by western culture, says Zheng Limin, a student. The Forbidden City is the only quiet place we have left. We have to keep it purely Chinese.
Others believe China can survive Starbucks.
It doesn't harm traditional culture at all, says Wang Yashu.
Reality is that Starbucks was invited inside the Forbidden City 6 years ago as part of a campaign to improve Beijing’s image in its bid to get the Olympic Games.
Now, under pressure, the caretakers of the Forbidden City are considering evicting Starbucks of this historic sight.
Starbucks may lose this battle, but it’s on its way to winning the rate of coffee war. China is Starbucks's most important emerging market outside the U.S. as more and more Chinese discover the virtual, ---------* latté. Michel Cormier CBC News, Beijing.
