Authorities in Shanghai are getting ready to clamp down on anyone dressing up for Halloween as social media users announced plans for a rerun of last year’s event, when young people took to the streets in scary costumes with underlying political messages.
Police, urban management officials and business owners in the downtown Huangpu district will be implementing “strict controls” over cosplay activities, according to leaked internal notices posted to social media.
“All cosplaying is prohibited, and no Halloween make-up will be permitted,” a police notice issued internally to neighborhood committees across Huangpu district said. “Use verbal persuasion at first, but compulsory measures must be used in the event of non-cooperation.”
The crackdown comes after young people gathered to mark Halloween on the streets of Shanghai in October 2023, with some wearing Winnie the Pooh and COVID-19 enforcer costumes in a satirical swipe at their government, and in defiance of official dislike of imported Western festivals.
News footage and social media clips showed spontaneous street gatherings of people in Halloween costumes, including ghosts and Chinese-style corpse brides, along with some more contemporary horrors: the white-clad COVID-19 enforcers of the zero-COVID lockdowns and even Winnie-the-Pooh – a figure banned by censors due to his reported resemblance to ruling Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping.
Several people at one gathering sported head-to-toe white hazmat suits, wielding coronavirus testing swabs and dispensing hand sanitizer to passers-by, in a darkly humorous nod to the horrors and anguish experienced by many in the city under its 2022 lockdown.
New restrictions
While last year’s costumes were seen as a relatively safe way to take political shots at the authorities without getting into trouble, this year’s revelers may run afoul of the city authorities.
This year, costumes and make-up are out, while buildings in the district are also banned from displaying any form of Halloween decoration, including bats, pumpkins, ghosts, coffins and skeletons, while “horror or violence-related elements” will not be allowed.
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“If these things are discovered, the event will be stopped immediately,” the notice said.
Halloween-related terms and English are both banned from promotional material, both online and offline, it said, calling on local businesses to submit plans for their Halloween decorations in advance to avoid trouble from the authorities.
A resident of Huangpu who gave only the surname Ma for fear of reprisals confirmed to RFA Mandarin on Oct. 18 that the notice leaked online had been sent throughout the district.
“Shanghai has made an announcement about this ahead of time, banning various costumes like bats and skeletons, as well as any scary images,” Ma said. “The notice says [local officials and police] should talk to people who cosplay first, but if they don’t cooperate, they will be forced to comply.”
“Ideological controls are getting tighter and tighter these days, but young people have always been rebellious,” she said. “The more you try to control them, the more they want to do it.”
A Shanghai resident who gave only the surname Guo for fear of reprisals agreed.
“Shanghai is very strictly controlled these days,” he said. “Outsiders see only the city’s prosperity, but under the surface, there are a lot of very detailed controls.”
Social media posts
The warnings came after social media users began posting about traveling to Shanghai’s Julu Road to take part in a similar event to last year’s.
“If you want to take part in Shanghai’s 2024 Halloween event, you need to know that the best dates will likely be Oct. 26-27 this year, between 5pm and 11pm,” one post on the video-sharing platform Douyin said.
“If nothing unexpected happens, most of the action will be concentrated in the Julu Road area, and around found158, where the beautiful people congregate,” it added, referring to an entertainment complex in Huangpu.
“Based on last year’s experience, there could be a big crowd after dark, so turn up early,” it warns.
Some Chinese-language X users also posted their interest in the planned event.
“I’m going to be in Suzhou ... at the end of the month; any suggestions for things to do?” wrote @Birdsnests on Oct. 21. “How about going to Shanghai to see the Halloween cosplay?” answered @tangjiemin1992.
Some were scathing about official plans to scupper the party.
User @CCPSHIMOGUI commented: “I won’t do any make-up, but can’t I just carry a sack of wheat on my shoulder?” in a reference to a popular anecdote lauding Xi’s physical strength.
“Didn’t expect Baozi to be scared of a pumpkin,” quipped @USABelAir2021, in a reference to a satirical nickname of Xi Jinping.
Translated by Luisetta Mudie.