Halloween Horror: China Crushes Festivities to Silence Dissent

The authorities in Shanghai were on high alert this past weekend, against a pressing threat: Halloween.

Officials there clamped down on Halloween celebrations this year, after many young people turned last year’s festivities into a rare public outlet for political or social criticism. People had poured into the streets dressed up as Covid testing workers, to mock the three years of lockdowns they had just endured; they plastered themselves in job advertisements, amid a weak employment market; they cross-dressed, seizing the opportunity to express L.G.B.T.Q. identities without being stigmatized.

At the time, many on Chinese social media celebrated the revelries as a joyous form of collective therapy. The Shanghai government even issued a news release saying the celebrations were proof of the city’s “cultural tolerance” and the “wisdom of its urban managers.”

But the authorities have grown increasingly restrictive toward personal expression in recent years, including seemingly apolitical expression. They are also wary of impromptu crowds, especially after the anti-lockdown protests in 2022. And so, for all their praise last year, this year they seemed determined to prevent a repeat.

The police did not appear to be approaching people who were not in costume.“If you have a costume, you’ll be immediately taken away,” a popular blogger who uses the name Zhe Ying — who went viral last Halloween for her impression of a famous singer — said in a livestream on Friday. Still wearing heavy makeup after having dressed up as an empress, she said she had just been released from “having tea,” a common euphemism for interactions with the police. “If you wanted to go out on the streets, you might as well just return your clothing.”