Chinese Bloggers Want to Forbid Starbucks in Forbidden City

I was interested to read in today’s Wall Street Journal about the Chinese blogosphere’s outcry over the presence of a Starbucks inside the imperial Forbidden City.

I remember that my impression of the Forbidden City as a mysterious and special place was diminished somewhat when I found out from a friend that there was a Starbucks there. It actually made me less interested in visiting the City, simply because it seemed much less authentic.

Apparently, I’m not in the minority. When Chinese news anchor cum blogger Rui Chenggang (in Chinese) wrote about his discomfort with the juxtaposition of this Western cultural icon with one of the most iconic pieces of China’s history, the post got more than half a million page views.

According to the Journal, Rui wrote, “it is really too inappropriate for the world’s impression of the Forbidden City. This isn’t globalization, this is the erosion of Chinese culture.”

Other bloggers have joined Rui’s call for the Starbucks to be removed, and the Forbidden City museum is paying attention. They are currently in the process of reassigning the shops inside the City as part of an overall facelift for the campus. Starbucks may or may not be a part of that plan.

Any company that does business in China has to be aware of the phenomena that underlie this outcry. First and foremost, China is grappling with serious issues of tradition and modernity. Chinese people as a whole are embracing progress, but they are working hard to hang on to its own unique identity as a nation. This nationalist sentiment can often be found in the blogosphere, where China’s 20 million bloggers are more or less free to talk about their reaction to foreign business investment in their country.

Paying attention to the blogosphere is a necessity even when a company and the culture it serves are from the same culture of origin. But it goes doubly true when a company decides to cross cultural lines into wired countries like China.

If I were Starbucks, I would bow out gracefully from the location and open another store just outside the city. Then I would find a culturally appropriate way to tip the company’s cap to China’s past and present. What do you guys think Starbucks should do?