Appears they’ve done it again. As with a certain religious movement that shall remain nameless, an attempt by the “authorities” in Beijing to quash an act of heresy has had the effect of publicizing it far better than its perpetrators ever could.
The offender this time around is a Cultural Revolution-themed restaurant. The offense? Installing a “Liberation Zone” sign above its toilet. From Reuters:
“Times Gone Past,” a restaurant featuring waiting staff clad in People’s Liberation Army uniforms and decorated with photos of revolutionary heroes and maps of military battles, had taken the “red” theme too far and had been ordered to remove the sign, Thursday’s Beijing News said.
“Many customers had expressed their dissatisfaction, believing that putting ‘liberation zone’ on par with a toilet was akin to blaspheming the revolution and was an overly-casual use of the term,” the paper said.
In a country dangerously starved for the catharsis of national self-deprecation, this comes as a major blow. Seriously.
Full Reuters article here, original Beijing Times report (Chinese) here.
[Image Source: Beijing Times]
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About the Author
Josh Chin is a freelance journalist based in Beijing. He also once worked as a sous chef in a French restaurant in San Francisco. Neither job has been good for his health.Latest from Twitter...
@mranti Just tried. Still blocked for me (on cafe wifi connect in Beijing). 2010-08-04Photos
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Hi Josh,
I loved the title… an interesting issue….!