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A coffee shop near one of Buddhism's most famous temples in China has sparked a heated debate about a clash of cultures.
Starbucks' newly opened outlet close to Hangzhou's LingyinTemple, has been called a second "cultural invasion," with critics saying the US chain's commercial style will spoil the serenity that an oriental Buddhism temple should embrace.
Supporters, however, said they welcomed the outlet as a place for tourists to enjoy a drink after visiting the temple.
Talk of an "invasion" was misplaced, they said, as the outlet was not inside the temple but on a nearby commercial street where a KFC restaurant and a shopping mall had been open for more than six months.
The incident follows calls in 2009 to stop the first "cultural invasion" when the Seattle-based coffee chain had to move its outlet out of Beijing's Forbidden City seven years after it opened.
Critics had urged the closure of the outlet which they said was a "humiliation" for a culture exemplified by the ancient buildings.
On Friday, Starbucks announced on its official Weibo microblog that its Lingyin Temple branchwould be opening the next day.
Critics were quick to respond.
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"Must the ancient Chinese culture give way to the Western and commercial atmosphere? Starbucks should try open branch in London's Big Ben," said Zhixiang.
"So today we can allow having a Western coffee shop near the Buddhism temple, then why can'twe have a massage house or a sex toy shop nearby tomorrow?" was another microblog comment.
"Several years ago Starbucks was driven out of the imperial palace, and now it had to turn to monks," another mocked.
But supporters fought back, with many of them saying that it was not the coffee shop that had affected the temple's atmosphere as the commercial street with Western restaurants and shopping malls had been there for half a year.
"Why do we have to keep pretending to ignore the fact that the Lingyin Temple area have already fallen into pure commercial atmosphere when the local government started to set up the small businesses?" asked Deng Haijian.
Deng and some other posters said they were calling on local governments to make a start to protecting Chinese culture at major scenic spots by wiping out all small enterprises, both Chinese and foreign shops.
词汇点拨：
spark 触发，引起
invasion 入侵
commercial 商业的
serenity 安静
oriental 东方文化的
Forbidden City 故宫
humiliation 羞辱，屈辱
microblog comment 微博评论
scenic spots 景点
新闻资讯：
9月25日，星巴克，代表着美国典型的咖啡文化；灵隐寺，则承载着中国千年佛教文化。22日，当星巴克“入驻”杭州灵隐景区的消息一出，社会上一片沸腾，因为当星巴克“遭遇”灵隐寺，触痛的是国人对于我国一些名胜古迹过度商业开发敏感的神经。
在文化传统和商业开发之间寻找平衡点，一直是中国许多名胜古迹面临的难题。反观一些国家的做法：在韩国的“故宫”景福宫，当地政府规定任何破坏传统文化气氛的饮食店都不能在宫殿区内申请开张，仅在门口设有饮料自动售卖机；而日本对古迹引进现代设备和产业显得更为保守，如果未经文部科学省审核擅自引入现代设备和产业，文化古迹可能遭到“降级处理”，从公认的“国宝”“重要文化财”中除名。
“由此可见，景区应反思的并不是多了一家星巴克或是其他什么洋品牌，而是过多的商业机构是否已超过服务游人的需要。”杭州社会科学院社会学研究所所长傅立群说。 |
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发表于 2016-7-11 09:10:09