Defying the Dragon: How China’s Youth Are Embracing Halloween Despite Government Crackdown
[The Epoch Times, November 02, 2024](Epoch Times special department reporters Wu Ruichang, Zhang Zhongyuan, and Ning Xin interviewed and reported) Unlike Westerners who only wear fancy clothes and show off their faces on Halloween, Chinese people have done so two or three times in advance in recent years. People dress up as various characters and take to the streets every day, taking the opportunity to vent their dissatisfaction with current affairs. This year, they take to the streets a week early. The Chinese Communist authorities have taken various stringent measures to ban Halloween activities.
As Halloween approaches on October 31, a large number of police officers appear on busy roads in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Hefei and other cities to prohibit young people from gathering to celebrate Halloween.
At some intersections such as Julu Road and Changle Road, which are famous for bars in Shanghai, a large number of police officers arrived and surrounded iron railings to interrogate, drive away and even arrest some people who were performing cosplay on the streets. At the same time, some cosplayers are prohibited from taking the subway, and law enforcement officers inspect the large dolls outside the stores one by one to see if there are real people inside.
Although the Shanghai police are constantly driving away or arresting these young people dressed up in costumes, young people seem not to be afraid of the CCP’s suppression and still celebrate Halloween. Some young people even staged “guerrilla warfare” with the police, and they still continue to do so recently. Some young people in Shanghai choose to carry out related activities at night.
Earlier, young people in Shanghai moved their activities to Zhongshan Park. They carefully dressed up as various characters to express their ideas, while performing, singing, checking in, taking photos and recording videos, making the entire Zhongshan Park lively.
Some performers with distinctive or outstanding performances were taken away by the police, and some people wearing Chinese costumes in the area were also questioned. In addition, Ye, who plays characters related to religious beliefs, was taken away for questioning, but as soon as they left the police station, they took a group photo to commemorate their experience of participating in activities and being taken away by the police.
Some videos leaked online showed that cosplayers near the Jing’an Temple in Shanghai were taken into a house by the police and forced to remove their makeup and cosplay costumes. Among them, two young women who played the role of “black-faced sheep” were forced by the police to remove their makeup, and their sheep clothes were almost confiscated. But they said, “It’s fun, come back tomorrow.”
After people moved to Shanghai’s Zhongshan Park for a night of partying, the park was closed by authorities. Zhongshan Park made a sudden announcement near the early morning of October 26, saying: “The park will be closed at 2 pm on October 27 due to internal adjustments. The reopening time will be notified later.” Currently, there are a large number of police officers in the park to control the scene, and ordinary tourists It is no longer possible to enter, and the entrance of Zhongshan Park Subway Station is also subject to strict inspection.
Shanghai Jinjiang Paradise also issued an online announcement on October 27, saying: “From now until November 1, the park will not accept cross-dressing tourists. We hope for your understanding.”
In addition, Shanghai Urumqi Middle Road and Shanghai Hongxing Road were more severely blocked by the authorities. There were a large number of plainclothes and policemen guarding the two roads, with only a few ordinary people around. The reason may be related to the fact that Hongxing Road is the former residence of former Premier Li Keqiang of the Communist Party of China, and Urumqi Middle Road was the birthplace of the 2022 White Paper Revolution. Currently, taking photos and sending flowers are not allowed on Hongxing Road, and takeaways here must be subject to interrogation.
Ban spreads from Shanghai to surrounding areas
In addition to Shanghai, cosplay activities are also restricted in Hangzhou, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Beijing and other places.
On October 27, the Halloween-themed event “Streaming Light Dance” originally scheduled to be held in Nanjing was suspended. The official claimed, “Due to the recent ‘bad impact’ incident on Halloween in Shanghai, which is in a sensitive period, it has attracted Nanjing’s attention and investigation, and the mall has suspended activities due to risk management activities.”
From the 27th to the 28th, role players dressed as Fan Bingbing, Batman, Deadpool and other characters appeared one after another on Zhongshan North Road in Hangzhou, and they were all taken away by the police.
On the 29th, Nanjing’s Vientiane World, Water City and Happy Valley successively canceled Halloween activities, some banned gathering activities, and removed all Halloween elements from the shelves. In addition, Beijing Shijingshan Park also announced the cancellation of parade performances on the same day.
In addition, role-players who appeared in Dongshankou Pedestrian Street in Guangzhou were asked to take off their costumes and had their bags searched.
On the 25th, an Internet celebrity with makeup and looks similar to Na Ying complained to the audience during a live broadcast that Shanghai now strictly controls Halloween. She was once invited to “drink tea” on Yuyuan Road. She also advised those locals who have already Those who have bought Cos clothing or want to go to Shanghai for the festival should give up their thoughts.
Internet blockade and school control
Recently, China’s Internet and social platforms have also been strictly controlled, and Halloween-related tags and topics have been widely banned.
Currently, searching for “Shanghai Halloween” and other related topics on Douyin will show “the search results are empty.” Some people even live broadcast live on Julu Road in Shanghai, and their live broadcast room was instantly banned by the platform. Currently, Weibo has banned many topics related to “Shanghai Halloween”.
Many schools and teachers’ WeChat, QQ and other groups have received notices that students are not allowed to participate in “Halloween” activities from October 25 to November 1. Some even require students to report whether they have posted on Weibo or Xiaohongshu Participated in related activities on other platforms.
On October 29, a university in Shanghai specifically requested that students not wear cosplay costumes on and off campus during Halloween. It is reported that two students are currently being booked by the police.
People: The authorities are afraid that people will take to the streets to fight against the Communist Party
Zhao Tianming (pseudonym), a Hangzhou citizen who participated in Halloween activities last weekend, told The Epoch Times on October 30, “There have been a lot of people participating in Halloween in Hangzhou recently. There are regulations that people cannot gather and stay on the streets, but the control is not as strict as in Shanghai. severe.”
As for the reason why Shanghai’s lockdown is so strict this time, he said, “An anti-communist incident occurred in Shanghai this year and it is in a politically sensitive period, so the controls have become quite strict, but these things cannot be seen in the news.”
Liu Hao (pseudonym), who works in construction-related industries in Shanghai, told The Epoch Times on October 29, “The evil CCP knows that it is not far from the end. In order to prevent young people from holding Halloween in Zhongshan Park, it directly falsely claims that the park needs renovation. It is currently in a schizophrenic state, which requires foreign funds and technology while rejecting Western civilized practices and customs, but this simply does not work.”
“Now young people are seriously affected by involution and unemployment at work. They just want to express their inner repression and thoughts through festivals and costumes, but they are suppressed by the CCP. The CCP is now afraid that they will gather again to resist, because they will not Many young people know some outside news through circumventing the wall, and their minds and thoughts are clearer than ordinary people,” he said.
He also mentioned, “It’s not just places like Shanghai and Hangzhou that suppress Halloween. Hefei, Anhui Province, suppresses Halloween even more severely than Shanghai. It forces businesses to turn off all large commercial electronic screens until Halloween is over. The purpose of opening it is to make the whole place completely free of the atmosphere of a foreign festival.”
Lin Dadong (pseudonym), another citizen living in Shanghai, told The Epoch Times on October 27, “These festivals are originally rare activities where everyone can relax. Last year, Shanghai’s Halloween activities were very popular, and the lockdown was not so severe. At that time, everyone was cosplaying various characters on the streets. Now the government has uncharacteristically suppressed it, and even the Hanfu that people usually wear to take photos at scenic spots is also controlled. This approach is too sensitive and incredible. “
Some netizens also complained about the CCP’s practices on Weibo. They said that the CCP’s control over Halloween in 2024 has reached the point of being “speechless” and that they would be “nervous” if they did not allow any Western festivals to be passed this year. Some people also describe the CCP’s approach as “Halloween martial law,” as if it is a very scary holiday, and even describe the CCP as staging a “Shanghai lockdown” during the epidemic.
Editor in charge: Lian Shuhua