July 14, 2008 6:31 AM
Walls Cannot Contain Starbucks
It's Saturday, about 11 a.m. Mexican president Felipe Calderón's entourage (!) has just taken over the Great Wall, leaving hundreds of tourists stranded as El Presidente ascends to the top. I'm wandering around the base of the Wall, past the stores that dot the roads nearby. "I walked the Great Wall" t-shirts are going for $5. Anything with the Olympic mascots sells for $10. Popsicles are a dollar; ice water's a quarter. A tall, Bolivian mocha blend with two shakes of cream is going for $4.Wait, what now?
I barely notice it the first time going past, so ubiquitous is that dark green logo around Beijing. But yes, it's inescapable: even at the Great Wall of China, they've got Starbucks.
Fast forward to this morning. I'm walking into the U.S. Embassy in town. Around the corner, past the line of Chinese applying for American green cards, through the security checkpoint and a trailer building and..... there's another Starbucks. It's the only Starbucks I know of where you need your passport to order a Frappuccino.
Though for those of you wondering why Starbucks' current contraction isn't taking place here, take heart: the Starbucks in the Forbidden City shut down last year.
February 13, 2010
4:04 AM
Conrad Nakamoto writes:
If I would have read this a few years ago, I'm not sure what I would have thought.. but today I agree with everything in this post.