McDonald’s has served up a super-sized order of controversy by proposing a branch in a historic building in one of China’s most frequently painted landscapes, Hangzhou’s West Lake.
The governmental agency that manages the lake and its surroundings this week posted a proposal to allow a McDonald’s into the former home of late Taiwanese president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國).
The plan described the outlet as a coffee shop, suggesting a McCafe. It would have 100 seats in a building with an area of 335m3. West Lake is celebrated in Chinese tradition, notably by poet Su Shi (蘇軾), of the Song Dynasty, who compared the body of water to a beautiful woman.
Photo: AFP
The idea of the Golden Arches finding a spot among its stone causeways, tree-lined paths, and placid island-dotted waters triggered fury.
“In the future, will Uncle McDonald [Ronald McDonald] with a head of red hair, a big smile on his face, be sitting on a bench just meters away from the Broken Bridge?” a report in the Qianjiang Evening News newspaper asked, referring to a site on the lake.
Chinese have previously opposed what they perceive as symbols of foreign consumerism encroaching on cultural sites.
Photo: AFP
A branch of Starbucks was forced out of Beijing’s imperial Forbidden City in 2007 after a campaign by China Central Television (CCTV) journalist Rui Chenggang (芮成鋼), who is now reportedly detained for corruption.
However, some supported the proposal for McDonald’s to rent the house, as a way to restore the property.
One microblog post even called Chiang Ching-kuo — who died in 1988 — the “hated son of someone who split the motherland,” referring to the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) defeat by the communists and flight to Taiwan.
“I hope his old house can be of service and convenience to the public,” it said.
The local government is now seeking public opinion on the proposal.
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