Burger bar in historic home sparks public upset
Print Edition
MCDONALD’S has opened an outlet in a historical residence in east China’s Zhejiang Province, sparking heated debate about whether such sites should be used for commercial purpose.
The burger chain began operating in the main building of a former home of Chiang Ching-kuo, son of Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-shek, in Hangzhou last Friday, less than two months after a Starbucks opened nearby.
Chiang Ching-kuo and his family lived in the building for less than a month in 1948.
McDonald’s proposed to rent the two-story house near the scenic West Lake and turn it to a 100-seat cafe in January.
The story has sparked a public uproar, with many people accusing authorities of ignoring the historic value of the buildings and risking their damage.
“Commercialization will eventually ruin the buildings,” a microblogger on Sina Weibo named “Miilansmith” wrote.
“Are the authorities really in such dire need of money?” another blogger commented.
Chiang Ching-kuo’s grandson, Demos Yu-bou Chiang, questioned the deal, asking on Weibo, “Is having a McDonald’s in a historical residence or a Starbucks in a palace really an OK thing in management of cultural real estate?”
But Chen Wenjin, former deputy director of the Zhejiang Provincial Administration of Cultural Heritage, defended the idea, saying that “the ownership of the residence changed several times over the past few decades. There were few historic things left.”
Representatives of the provincial government offices administration, which owns the buildings, said that the interior of the residence is no longer how it was when Chiang lived there.
Chen said the residence could be used for commerce if the original layout is not changed.
He said there was a chance that the building would be ruined and suggested “whoever rents the residence should take care of the repair work.”
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