HONG KONG — Police in Shanghai were out in force last weekend to crack down on Halloween festivities amid concerns that revellers would once again appear in costumes deemed politically sensitive.
Last year, large crowds gathered to celebrate Halloween along 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 in hazmat suits and other costumes linked to Covid and other social and economic issues.
Others wore costumes made of blank sheets of paper, a nod to rare mass demonstrations in late 2022 in Shanghai and other Chinese cities against the country’s “zero-Covid” restrictions, including a strict two-month lockdown in Shanghai. Chinese authorities responded by lifting nationwide restrictions in one fell swoop, unleashing Covid-19 on a population that had previously had little exposure.
In the run-up to Halloween on Oct. 31, Shanghai police have set up makeshift barriers on Julu and nearby roads to prevent revelers from gathering.
Video shared on social media and geolocated by News shows dozens of police officers crossing a road near Zhongshan Park where Halloween revelers have been gathering 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 was wearing a hat with a pirate emblem and they even asked him to take it off,” read a comment from a Shanghai resident on Chinese social media platform Weibo on Sunday.
In the run-up to Halloween on Oct. 31, Shanghai police have set up makeshift barriers on Julu and nearby roads to prevent revelers from gathering.
A video shared on social media and geolocated by NBC News shows dozens of police officers crossing a road near Zhongshan Park, where Halloween revelers have been gathering in recent days. In another video, a man dressed as Buddha was led away by two police officers near the same location.
“I went for a walk tonight and there were police everywhere. My 6-year-old was wearing a hat with a pirate emblem and they even asked him to take it off,” a Shanghai resident commented on Chinese social media platform Weibo on Sunday.
Halloween-related activities appeared to go ahead as planned at Shanghai Disneyland and another theme park, Happy Valley. But Zhongshan Park, where videos of revelers gathering in recent days have circulated online, said on Saturday it would close from Sunday afternoon, without giving a reason or saying when it would reopen.
Shanghai’s Jinjiang Action Park said on Sunday that to ensure a “safe and orderly experience for visitors,” it would not allow anyone in costume to attend its month-long “Magic Fantasy Festival,” which appears to celebrate the Halloween season. The park had previously encouraged visitors to wear “colorful” makeup and “exquisite, unique” clothing for the event.
News of the crackdown was a trending topic on Weibo on Saturday, Reuters reported. But on Monday, the discussion appeared to have been suppressed by online censors.
“It’s a waste of resources. If this much effort is being put into it, it should be to make sure people are safe and having fun, not to restrict or oppress them,” read one of the few remaining comments.