With tens of thousands of restaurants around the world, opening up a new one isn’t much of a big deal for McDonald’s these days.
That’s not been the case with one of its newest branches in the Chinese city of Hangzhou – the largest city in the Eastern province of Zhejiang.
Opening an outlet at a cultural heritage site which was once home to a Taiwanese leader, the new restaurant is attracting fierce criticism according to a report in The Independent.
The building was formerly a villa which belonged to Chaing Ching-kuo – the son of a former leader. During the Civil War in the country in the 1940s, he stayed in the house for around a month.
Reports suggest that conservationists had called for the villa to be turned into a museum.
Now, Chiang’s grandson – businessman Demos Chiang – has had his say on the matter, complaining about the restaurant’s opening on on microblogging site, Weibo.
‘I don’t understand – opening a McDonald’s in the villa. How exactly does that adhere to regulations on correct usage of cultural heritage sites?’