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| "Forbidden City Starbucks" 2001 by Gu Xiong |
It's a picture of a building in the Forbidden City where they once had a Starbucks. It's called "Forbidden City Starbucks" taken by Gu Xiong in 2001.
I remember visiting Beijing and seeing it there and thinking it was so odd seeing an American brand in the grounds where emperors used to live. Visitors could sip on cappuccinos next to the Hall of Preserving Harmony.
The Starbucks there opened in 2000, and caused a big uproar from locals and foreigners alike. Seven years later TV host Rui Chenggang penned a blog post railing about the American coffee chain in the Forbidden City, saying it "tramples over Chinese culture".
His blog post led to half a million people signing a petition to have Starbucks removed, which happened about six months later.
He said he wasn't against Starbucks, as he did drink the brand of coffee, Rui objected to it being in the Forbidden City.
An interesting post script is that in 2014 Rui was detained on suspicion of bribery and sentenced to prison for over five years. But it wasn't until 2024 did he re-emerge, but on YouTube, which is banned in China.
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