A costumed Shanghai resident takes photos in Shanghai. Image from YouTube.

Shanghai police were deployed in full force over the weekend to crack down on Halloween activities amid concerns that revelers might appear in politically sensitive costumes.

Last year, ahead of the anniversary of the White Paper Protests that marked the end of China’s zero-COVID policy, thousands took to the streets in Shanghai to celebrate Halloween. Among the massive crowd, a few costumes were encoded with political messages critical of the country’s policies, including its widespread censorship and COVID-19 lockdown.

This year, to prevent any public displays of dissent, Shanghai police notified downtown neighbourhood committees and local businesses two weeks before the festival that costumes would be prohibited this year.

Shanghai police's operation began on October 25, the weekend ahead of Halloween. Exiled Chinese activist Rei Xia shows how Shanghai police officers sealed off downtown Huangpu district:

1/ 🚨🇨🇳HappeningNow: China’s police are cracking down on #Halloween with unexpected intensity: streets in Shanghai packed with police cars, human barricades of police, road barriers…Anyone in costume is immediately arrested, forced to remove makeup or even clothes.

But why? pic.twitter.com/vkmo8jlhxM

— 夏巢川 Rei Xia (@karasu_ga_warau) October 25, 2024

A few were taken away by police:

The Chinese Communist Party rounding up and arresting people dressed up for Halloween in Shanghai

That should tell you all you need to know about the confidence of the Chinese government. pic.twitter.com/ColRdNrFkc

— Drew Pavlou 🇦🇺🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼 (@DrewPavlou) October 28, 2024

Despite the risk of arrest, cosplayers shifted to Zhongshan Park for their Halloween party. Chants such as “We want freedom,” were heard in the crowd. 

Overseas Chinese writer Gao Falin spelled out the significance of the young people’s protest:

西方的万圣节被中国人玩成了狂欢节，成千上万上海青年到中山公园集结，喊出要自由口号。公园被关闭后街头到地铁站站满变装青年，穿行其中的警察引发大声喝采——他们把警察的围堵看作狂欢一部分，一个巨大的超现实主义“梗”。年轻人与封堵的警察一起，把一场自发聚集的娱乐活动变成了一次大规模社会表演。 pic.twitter.com/QXzEVlQt1V

— 高伐林 (@GaoFalin) October 28, 2024

Halloween, a Western festival, has been turned into a carnival by the Chinese, with thousands of Shanghai youths rallying in Zhongshan Park, chanting slogans for freedom. When the park was closed, the streets and subway stations were filled with costumed youth who surrounded the police officers with chants and turned them into part of the carnival. A super surrealist spoof. Together with the police officers, the young people transformed a spontaneous fun gathering into a large-scale social performance.

Some Shanghai celebrants tried to escape the police operation and continue the festivities in Hangzhou, a nearby coastal city in Zhejiang province:

Social media: Hangzhou’s Halloween nights.

Let city competition go on. (As someone originally from Zhejiang, I am 100% biased 😂）
First picture paper: “we don’t need costume. I stand and I am, a poor person) pic.twitter.com/mmxiScQTgb

— Liqian Ren (@liqian_ren) October 27, 2024

However, the police followed the participants, as overseas Chinese independent news outlet, @YesterdayBigCat reported on X:

「浙江杭州：当局继续打压Coser，中山北路万圣节多人遭抓捕（10月27日）」继上海万圣节遭当局打压之后，浙江杭州万圣节也遭到当局打压，多名Coser被抓走。周日晚，浙江杭州的万圣节活动在拱墅区中山北路进行，据网友透露，现场人数超过一万人，气氛热烈。不过，和上海万圣节一样，杭州的Coser也遭到了… pic.twitter.com/SqCvGSJR18

— 昨天 (@YesterdayBigcat) October 28, 2024

Zhejiang Hangzhou: The authorities continue suppressing cosplayers. On October 27, a number of individuals were arrested on Zhongshanbei Road. The Hangzhou crackdown on Halloween came after Shanghai. A number of cosplayers were arrested. On Sunday, a massive Halloween crowd of more than 10,000 people was gathered along Zhongshanbei Road of Hungye district. The atmosphere was heated. However, like Shanghai, many cosplayers were taken away by police…

As China has been struggling hard to boost its domestic consumption amid its economic downturn, the authorities did not issue a complete ban on the festival, but vowed that the police would take action against “weird” (奇裝異服) or “dramatic” costumes under the pretext of resident complaints:

“There was no formal announcement that celebrating Halloween was illegal and not all partygoers were stopped.” Richard Spencer, The Times

Because. It's. Not. Illegal………https://t.co/N85zxMVMCB pic.twitter.com/3XTKpVJKpS

— Steven Weaver (@SteveWChina) October 29, 2024

A Weibo user turned the selective Halloween crackdown into a joke:

我：听说今年万圣节上海巨鹿路不让cosplay。

舍友：不是不让，是大家cos奇形怪状。如果你们cos快递小哥、保洁阿姨、前台姐姐、工人叔叔、农民伯伯等，你看有人会阻止你不？

我：好像有点道理，可是我真的是快递小哥啊！

舍友：这不正好，cosplay服装的钱都帮你省了。

Me: I’ve heard that Shanghai bans Halloween cosplay along Julu Road this year.

My friend: Not ban. Just that those weird costumes. If you dress as a delivery bro, cleaning lady, cashier, worker, or farmer, will anyone stop you?

Me: Right, but I am a real delivery bro!

My friend: That’s great, you have saved some money on a costume.

Throughout China, all Halloween activities were restricted to designated areas — in the case of Shanghai, the celebrations were restricted to theme parks:

Bro wore heavy armor to participate in Halloween in Shanghai only to find out cosplayers are banned all throughout Shanghai this year.

Halloween celebrations are only allowed in Shanghai Disney and Shanghai Happy Valley this year because those are only two places that… pic.twitter.com/8rbENuotYw

— Carl Zha (@CarlZha) October 26, 2024

In other parts of China, like Hangzhou and Wuhan, cosplayers could enter theme parks, shopping malls, bars and tourist districts, where many Chinese brands took the opportunity to advertise their products through costumes:

Screenshot from Weibo

A Weibo user called such commercial costumes in designated districts as Halloween cosplay with Chinese characteristics.