I’ve mentioned this before but years ago I read a column in a Canadian newspaper in which the columnist wrote something like this:
Canada could have had the best of everything. We could have had British traditions, French cuisine, and American technology. We ended up with American traditions, British cuisine, and French technology.
That’s what this story reminds me of:
Disney uses feng shui in Hong Kong
HONG KONG – The Walt Disney Co. is taking a series of steps to address cultural sensitivities as it prepares to open Hong Kong Disneyland a little more than a year from now, the company’s president said.
The new theme park, long controversial because of the Hong Kong government’s lavish investment in it, will include local food and music and provide services not only in English but also in two Chinese languages, said Robert A. Iger, Disney’s president and chief operating officer. He described these steps as part of a broad effort to recognize national differences.
“We know if we’re too U.S.-centric, the products won’t be too relevant to those markets,” Iger said. “That’s particularly true as it relates to Hong Kong Disneyland.”
Esther Wong, a spokeswoman for Hong Kong Disneyland, said that the company had rotated the orientation of the entire park by several degrees in the early design phase after consulting a master of feng shui, a Chinese practice of seeking harmony with spiritual forces.
The park is scheduled to open sometime late next year or early
Hat tip: Fark
