Police Out in Force to Prevent Rowdy Halloween Celebrations in Shanghai

Police officers keep watch near barricades set up along Julu Road where people inHalloween costumes gathered the year before, in Shanghai, China October 26, 2024. REUTERS/Nicoco Chan

SHANGHAI (Reuters) -Shanghai police patrolled the downtown streets over the weekend to crack down on Halloween celebrations in China's most international city. 

Local authorities appeared to be trying to prevent a repeat of last year, when Halloween revellers thronged central Shanghai, with some dressed in costumes that poked fun of the Chinese stock market, youth unemployment and strict COVID-19 policies.

This weekend, the police presence, online postings about a crackdown and constant rain kept the revelry to a minimum.

At least half a dozen people in costumes that turned up in Shanghai's Zhongshan park on Friday night were seen by Reuters witnesses being led away by police.

There was no official city-wide notice banning Halloween, though local district officials sent notices to businesses in advance of the weekend encouraging family-friendly celebrations and discouraging activities in which adults would be wearing costumes.

A bar and restaurant owner in the Jing An nightlife district was asked to sign an agreement issued by the local district authorities pledging they would not organise any activities such as costume contests "to maintain good social order and public image", he said on Friday. Reuters reviewed a copy of the order the owner signed. 

Jing An district police did not immediately reply to a request for comment from Reuters. 

One party-goer dressed up as a skeleton on Friday night in the Jing An district until detained by police and escorted to an administrative building and asked to remove his make-up, he said. He declined to be identified for privacy reasons.  

By Saturday, news of Shanghai's crackdown on Halloween was a trending topic on Chinese social media sites, including Weibo. 

"Even in relatively open Shanghai, the scale of freedom is constantly shrinking," one user posted.

Officially sanctioned Halloween celebrations at the Shanghai Disney Resort and Happy Valley Amusement Park went ahead as scheduled. 

(Reporting by Casey Hall, Nicoco Chan and the Shanghai newsroom; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)