I was on a Beijing trip with my friends. We decided to visit the Great Wall. Before I could see the entrance of the Great Wall, I saw something very "interesting"....
We stopped walking and some of my friends decided to buy a cup of coffee as their "morning tea". Then, we continued to walk on.
So, here we are. My friends were holding a cup of Starbucks coffee when we walked along the path of the Great Wall. And I looked to the mountain side and saw a slogon - "one world, one dream".
The power of globalisation, right?
But now, I am a bit confused - what is the dream (of the Beijing Government)?
The power of globalisation, right?
But now, I am a bit confused - what is the dream (of the Beijing Government)?
2 comments:
Is that related to destination management?
The Beijing Gov't have good natural sights, top attractions and abundant resources. The Great Wall is one of the seven wonders of the world!
But they just don't know how to manage the attractions well.
Maybe they are focusing too much on the no. of visitors, the amount of profits made, or the 'needs' of some customers? then, forget to preserve the cutural hertiage, to maintain the original appearance which are worth to keep?
Yeah, seeing a Starbucks (symbol for globalzation) in one of the greatest historic site of Beijing really feels kind of awkward, yet I think that a mixture of modernity and cultural heritage does not necessary destroys the local culture of a place.
To be honest, I think Hong Kong has a lot to learn from Beijing regarding cultural reservation and city design. Of course the cultural heritages in HK could not be compared to those in the capital of China. Yet, I think our society is also lacking behind in terms of the government's awareness in reserving our culture, history and uniqueness. (Look at how the Beijing government tries to reserve all the old streets, Hutong and old buildings etc). On the other hand, we are also lacking the courage for creativity and design in urban planning (comparing to the bird-nest and other interesting architecture in Beijing)...
HK is always proud to be a head in the process of globalization...but then almost entirely in the face of a financial city only...money, money and money!
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