万花筒 Kaleidoscope 2007-03-18&19, 请星巴克搬出故宫后续

In the sprawling¹ grounds of China's Forbidden City, once home to the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, one small shop is in the midst of a brewing² controversy----Starbucks, that poster child for American mass marketing³ and a growing number of Chinese who want to banish⁴ it. The Forbidden City should preserve its uniqueness, says this woman. Ever since it opened more than 6 years ago, Starbucks has been a contentious⁵ presence in one of China's most revered⁶ historical icons⁷.

Some of these symbols of western cultural influence, Starbucks is just the tip of the iceberg⁸, do rub up against Chinese nationalistic sensibility, that is what we are seeing, it’s that simple.

Earlier this year, the trademark⁹ green sign was removed to reduce this store's visibility after Rui Chenggang, an anchor on state-run television began an online campaign to have the coffee shop closed for good.

You can still tell it is a Starbucks and when you tour around the Forbidden City you see hundreds of cups with big Starbucks logo on it, you know, all around, to me, it spoils fun.

And now, complaints of "latte and imperialism¹⁰" have reached the National People's Congress, the annual session of parliament. "As long as it stays in the Imperial Palace, it poses a challenge to our traditional culture", says lawmaker Jiang Hongbin who submitted the motion to congress to have Starbucks closed.

This is much more than a storm in a coffee cup. With almost 200 stores already in China's big cities, Starbucks is aiming to make this country its largest market, and bad publicity¹¹ is bad for business. The company says it is aware of the complaints but adds, "many tourists find our respectful presence a welcome place of rest". Over the years, the rent from stores like Starbucks have helped cover the cost of the upkeep and renovations to the almost 600-year-old Forbidden City, but soon here, it could be "One Starbucks to go".

John Vause CNN, in the Forbidden City ,Beijing.

1 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

2 brewing   

n. 酿造, 一次酿造的量 动词brew的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• It was obvious that a big storm was brewing up. 很显然，一场暴风雨正在酝酿中。
• She set about brewing some herb tea. 她动手泡一些药茶。

3 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

4 banish   

vt.放逐，驱逐；消除，排除

参考例句：

• The doctor advised her to banish fear and anxiety.医生劝她消除恐惧和忧虑。
• He tried to banish gloom from his thought.他试图驱除心中的忧愁。

5 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

6 revered   

v.崇敬，尊崇，敬畏( revere的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A number of institutions revered and respected in earlier times have become Aunt Sally for the present generation. 一些早年受到尊崇的惯例，现在已经成了这代人嘲弄的对象了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Chinese revered corn as a gift from heaven. 中国人将谷物奉为上天的恩赐。 来自辞典例句

7 icons   

n.偶像( icon的名词复数 )；（计算机屏幕上表示命令、程序的）符号，图像

参考例句：

• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons. 用图标来区分重要的文本项。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Daemonic icons should only be employed persistently if they provide continuous, useful status information. 只有会连续地提供有用状态信息的情况下，后台应用程序才应该一直使用图标。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

8 iceberg   

n.冰山，流冰，冷冰冰的人

参考例句：

• The ship hit an iceberg and went under.船撞上一座冰山而沉没了。
• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。

9 trademark   

n.商标；特征；vt.注册的…商标

参考例句：

• The trademark is registered on the book of the Patent Office.该商标已在专利局登记注册。
• The trademark of the pen was changed.这钢笔的商标改了。

10 imperialism   

n.帝国主义，帝国主义政策

参考例句：

• They held the imperialism in contempt.他们鄙视帝国主义。
• Imperialism has not been able to subjugate China.帝国主义不能征服中国。

11 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。