Starbucks closes Forbidden City store

BEIJING, July 14 (UPI) -- Starbucks has closed its store in Bejing's Forbidden City after complaints the U.S. coffee-shop chain was trampling on ancient Chinese culture.

An on-line campaign started by Chinese television personality Rui Chenggang drew nearly 500,000 signatures to close the store, one of more than 250 Starbucks stores in China, The Seattle Times reported Saturday.

The Forbidden City, one of China's top tourist attractions, was built in 1420 and was home to 24 emperors until the end of imperial rule in 1911, BBC News said. The Forbidden City attracts nearly nine million visitors a year and is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Starbucks opened the Forbidden City shop seven years ago and removed its brand sign two years ago to address cultural sensitivities, but the highly profitable shop continued to draw protests.

"We decided at the end that it is not our custom worldwide to have stores that have any other name, so therefore we decided the choice would be to leave," said a Starbucks statement.