Shanghai puts a stop to spooky season

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 considered 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 of 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 the 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 Oct. 31, Shanghai police have set up makeshift barriers on Julu and nearby roads, deterring partygoers from gathering.

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

“I went out for a stroll 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 one comment Sunday from a Shanghai resident on Chinese social media platform Weibo.

There was no official announcement of an outright ban or clear restrictions on Halloween activities from Shanghai officials, but local businesses reported receiving notices. One business owner who operates bars in Shanghai’s Jing An district said on Chinese social media that police had told him not to hold any celebration or feature “bizarre clothing” on Halloween.

NBC News has reached out to 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 go ahead as planned at Shanghai Disneyland and another theme park, Happy Valley. But Zhongshan Park, where videos circulating online showed revelers gathering in recent days, said Saturday that it would close starting Sunday afternoon, without giving a reason or saying when it would reopen. 

Jinjiang Action Park in Shanghai said Sunday that to ensure a “safe and orderly experience for visitors,” it would not admit anyone in costumes during its monthlong “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.

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

“It’s a waste of resources. If so much effort is invested, it should be to ensure people are safe and having fun, not to restrict or suppress them,” read one of the few comments remaining.

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