【Epoch Times October 28, 2024】 (Epoch Times Reporter Xia Yu Comprehensive Report) Halloween, originally a Western holiday, is a day where people dress up as various characters for entertainment, and children go door-to-door asking for candy, along with various pumpkin decorations. However, in the largest city in China, Shanghai, Halloween celebrations have become a taboo. Over the past weekend, Shanghai police patrolled the streets in the city center vigorously cracking down on Halloween celebrations in this relatively internationalized city in China.
Last year during Halloween in Shanghai, many young people participating in the activities portrayed characters that sparked associations and deep thoughts. The youth used Halloween as a way to release long-suppressed emotions and also used role-playing to satirize and criticize the current political situation in China.
According to a report by Reuters on October 28, the Shanghai municipal government seems to be trying to prevent a repeat of last year’s Halloween revelry flooding the city center, where people wore costumes mocking the Chinese stock market, youth unemployment, and strict pandemic policies.
This weekend, Shanghai police were present to suppress online posts about cracking down on Halloween activities and the continuous rain helped keep Halloween celebrations in Shanghai at a minimum.
Witnesses reported to Reuters that last Friday night, at least six people dressed in costumes appeared in Shanghai’s Zhongshan Park and were taken away by the police.
Although there is currently no official notice prohibiting Halloween city-wide, local officials notified businesses before the weekend, encouraging family-friendly celebration activities and discouraging adults from dressing up in costumes for the occasion.
The owner of a bar and restaurant in the Jing’an district told Reuters on Friday that they were required to sign an agreement issued by the local government promising not to organize any activities such as costume contests to “maintain (so-called) good social order and public image.”
Reuters reviewed a copy of the directive that the owner signed. The Jing’an district police did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comments.
The owner mentioned that on Friday night in the Jing’an district, a person attending the party was detained by the police for cross-dressing and was taken to the administrative building to remove the costume. For privacy reasons, the owner refused to reveal the identity of this individual.
By Saturday, news of Shanghai cracking down on Halloween had become a hot topic on Chinese social media websites (including Weibo).
“Even in relatively open Shanghai, the scope of freedom is shrinking continuously,” a user posted.
Shanghai Disneyland Resort and Happy Valley amusement park’s Halloween celebrations approved by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials were allowed to proceed as planned.
An unsigned commentary article published on the Epoch Times website (Link) mentioned that the youth using role-playing and situational embodiment as forms of performance art to express many thoughts that cannot be expressed online is what the CCP fears the most.
The article also stated that the main participants in Halloween party activities are mostly young people, who are under unprecedented pressure. Many young people in various “involution” situations choose to “lie flat” (give up), “act up,” or resort to extreme measures, reflecting the current social situation in China where individuals see no way out and the country has no prospects. Yet, under the CCP’s crazy harvesting, the further tightening of freedom of speech leaves young people with no voice, leading to despair. In the current society of hopelessness, people go from anger to disappointment, from despair to eruption, perhaps in an instant. The reflection of societal reality through role-playing awakens the people, the awakened people unite hearts, discard fear, and resist tyranny. This is why the CCP’s authorities tightly control disguises and appearances during Halloween festivities.