Shanghai police crack down on Halloween costumes, revelers

HONG KONG – Police in Shanghai were out in force over the weekend to crack down on Halloween festivities, amid concerns that revelers would once again turn up in costumes deemed politically sensitive.

Last year, huge crowds turned out to celebrate Halloween around Julu Road, in the heart of China’s financial capital. It was the first Halloween since China emerged from three years of pandemic isolation, and some people dressed up in hazmat suits and other costumes related to Covid and other social and economic issues.

Others wore costumes made from blank sheets of paper, a reference to rare mass demonstrations in late 2022 in Shanghai and other Chinese cities against the country’s “zero-Covid” restrictions, which included a harsh two-month lockdown in Shanghai. Chinese authorities responded by lifting nationwide restrictions all at once, unleashing Covid-19 on a population with little previous exposure to it.

In the days leading up to Halloween on Thursday, Shanghai police have set up makeshift barriers on Julu and nearby roads, preventing revelers from congregating.

Video shared on social media and geolocated by NBC News shows dozens of police officers crossing a road near Zhongshan Park, where Halloween parties gathered in recent days. In another video, a man dressed as a Buddha was taken away by two police officers near the same location.

“I went for a walk tonight and there were police everywhere. My 6-year-old had a hat with a pirate emblem on it and they even asked him to take it off,” a Shanghai resident commented Sunday on the Chinese social media platform Weibo.

There was no official announcement of an outright ban or clear restriction on Halloween activities from Shanghai officials, but local businesses reported receiving notices. A business owner who runs bars in Shanghai’s Jing An district said on Chinese social media that police had asked him not to hold any party or present “bizarre clothes” on Halloween.

It was not immediately possible to reach the bar owner for more details. Police in Jing An could not be reached for comment. The Shanghai Information Office did not respond to a request for comment.

Halloween-related activities appeared to continue as planned at Shanghai Disneyland and another theme park, Happy Valley. But Zhongshan Park, where videos circulating online showed revelers gathered in recent days, said Saturday it would close from Sunday afternoon, without giving a reason or saying when it would reopen.

Jinjiang Action Park in Shanghai said on Sunday that to ensure a “safe and orderly experience for visitors”, it would not admit anyone in costume during its month-long “Magic Fantasy Festival”, which appears to celebrate the Halloween season. The park had encouraged visitors to wear “colorful” makeup and “exquisite, unique” clothing for the event.

On Saturday, news of the crackdown was a trending topic on Weibo, Reuters reported. But by Monday, online censors appeared to have suppressed the discussion.

“It is a waste of resources. If so much is invested, it should be to make sure people are safe and have fun, not to restrict or oppress them,” read one of the few remaining comments.