Censors, Authorities Spooked by Halloween Celebrations

The specter of arrest has made Halloween extra spooky this year. In Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Wuhan, Halloween revelry has been marred by strict police curfews, the detention of costume-clad partygoers, and bans on organized festivities. Meanwhile, censors have been vigorously erasing discussion of the Halloween crackdown from social media. The repressive atmosphere is a major departure from last year’s Halloween celebrations in Shanghai, which featured costumes that poked fun at authorities and that were hailed as a sign of the city’s cultural tolerance. At The New York Times, Vivian Wang and Muyi Xiao reported on the official repression of this year’s Halloween festivities: 

The police escorted the Buddha down the street, one officer steering him with both hands. They hurried a giant poop emoji out of a cheering dance circle in a public park. They also pounced on Donald J. Trump with a bandaged ear, and pushed a Kim Kardashian look-alike, in a tight black dress and pearls, into a police van, while she turned and waved to a crowd of onlookers.

[…] Around Julu Road, a popular area where most people had congregated last year, guardrails had been erected, blocking off the sidewalks. Flanks of police lined the street and subway entrances. When they saw someone in costume, according to videos and photos on social media verified by The New York Times, they hustled them out of view.

[…] Videos in another city, Hangzhou, also showed some people dressed as Deadpool, Batman and the Chinese actress Fan Bingbing being escorted away by police. In Beijing, some Halloween events were canceled as well. [Source]

Municipal authorities did not issue formal restrictions on the festivities. When asked why partygoers were being arrested, a Shanghai police officer told the Financial Times: “There is no why.” Another added that the arrests were “normal.” Official skittishness around the youthful gatherings might have been a product of the 2022 White Paper Movement, which saw large, spontaneous gatherings of youth demanding an end to zero-COVID policies and, in some instances, calling for democracy and the downfall of Xi Jinping. Political scientist Lynette Ong told The Wall Street Journal that the Halloween bans might be “a sign of the authorities and police feeling very insecure after the uprising of 2022.”

Online discussion of the apparent Halloween bans was widely censored. One photo-essay that censors took down from WeChat concerned Hangzhou’s briefly lively celebrations. The author joked about Shanghai Halloween refugees and lamented the “mirage” of tolerance that characterized last year’s celebrations: 

These two came from Shanghai, although it’s unclear if they actually did, or if it’s part of their joke. 

Your country uncle says, “Come on, let’s play ‘Down With the Landlord!’” 

Some people chose not to dress up, because everyone is so broke it’s scary. [In the original Chinese, “so broke” is rendered as 穷鬼, qióngguǐ, literally “poor ghosts,” giving the joke about the economy a Halloween flair.] The “non-costume costume” truly is next-level iconic.  

Seeing this, Lu Xun would shake his head and say, “Studying medicine won’t cure the Chinese people, so I quit.”

Last year, I said that this was a new spiritual and cultural chapter. Young people in major metropolises were creating a new holiday, one that was neither Chinese nor Western. They were creating a new future through their relaxed attitudes, joyful pursuits, tolerant views, and unbridled irreverence.

However, this year we learned—whether in Shanghai or Hangzhou—that openness was a mirage. [Chinese]

Other essays that were taken down by censors touched on similar themes. A now-deleted article by one WeChat blogger observed that Halloween had become a forum for Chinese youth to tell “Soviet jokes”: 

Last year, Halloween in Shanghai went viral. Young people took the spooky Western holiday and transformed it into Chinese-style revelry: it became one big creative cosplay show. Some costumed themselves as [singers] Wang Fei, Na Ying, or other celebrities. Others dressed as [Hong Kong film producer] Tiffany Chen or [influencer and e-commerce king] Li Jiaqi, incorporating Li’s now-infamous line: “How is that expensive?” Others dressed as overworked “996” coders complaining about being treated like slaves by their employers.

The costumes that earned the most attention were “Big Whites,” white-suited pandemic workers administering COVID tests. This year, it was rumored that dressing as a “Big White” would be banned. As Halloween approached, people found that all public costume-wearing was banned.

When last year’s Shanghai Halloween went viral, everyone said things like: “Of course, it’s Shanghai,” and “Only in Shanghai could they be so confident and tolerant.” One person even said, “Seeing how tolerant Shanghai is made me realize just how big a difference there is between my hometown and a truly international metropolis. I’ve decided to do everything I can to move to Shanghai.” Local Shanghai media like Jiemian News went so far as to praise it as “a true expression of national and cultural self-confidence.” 

[…] Last year, a young officer involved in crowd control smiled and joked to a group of young revelers, “I’m not in costume.” Even though he was just there doing his job, he got caught up in the joyful atmosphere. Today’s Julu Road is much more tightly guarded. [Young, smiling officers] have been replaced by stern-faced teams of commandos. 

During the Soviet era, laughs were hard to come by, so people invented Soviet jokes. These days, young people likewise have little to laugh about, so Halloween costumes became a way to let loose and express their remaining imagination and creativity. But now that, too, has become just another foolish dream. [Chinese]

Another essay taken down by censors captured snapshots of the mass of police forces deployed across the country to control the revelry:

City Walk is a great way to get to know a city. Today, walking along Julu Road in Shanghai’s Jing’an District, I could really sense “the calm before the storm.”

By the time I reached the part of Julu Road that runs through Huangpu District, I got the feeling that if anyone so much as showed up wearing Shang Wenjie-style makeup, the police would pounce on them immediately. [Singer Shang Wenjie’s outré makeup and clothing has been compared to Lady Gaga’s; Gaga became controversial in China after she met with the Dalai Lama.] 

[…] The volunteers filling the streets and alleyways looked like pumpkins in their orange vests, adding to Shanghai’s  festive atmosphere. 

[Chinese]