SHANGHAI (Reuters) -Shanghai police patrolled the downtown streets over the weekend to crack down on Halloween celebrations in China’s most worldwide metropolis.
Native authorities seemed to be attempting to stop a repeat of final 12 months, when Halloween revellers thronged central Shanghai, with some wearing costumes that poked enjoyable of the Chinese language inventory market, youth unemployment and strict COVID-19 insurance policies.
This weekend, the police presence, on-line postings a couple of crackdown and fixed rain saved the revelry to a minimal.
Not less than half a dozen folks in costumes that turned up in Shanghai’s Zhongshan park on Friday night time had been seen by Reuters witnesses being led away by police.
There was no official city-wide discover banning Halloween, although native district officers despatched notices to companies upfront of the weekend encouraging family-friendly celebrations and discouraging actions wherein adults could be sporting costumes.
A bar and restaurant proprietor within the Jing An nightlife district was requested to signal an settlement issued by the native district authorities pledging they’d not organise any actions equivalent to costume contests “to maintain good social order and public image”, he mentioned on Friday. Reuters reviewed a replica of the order the proprietor signed.
Jing An district police didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark from Reuters.
One party-goer dressed up as a skeleton on Friday night time within the Jing An district till detained by police and escorted to an administrative constructing and requested to take away his make-up, he mentioned. He declined to be recognized for privateness causes.
By Saturday, information of Shanghai’s crackdown on Halloween was a trending subject on Chinese language social media websites, together with Weibo (NASDAQ:).
“Even in relatively open Shanghai, the scale of freedom is constantly shrinking,” one person posted.
Formally sanctioned Halloween celebrations on the Shanghai Disney Resort and Joyful Valley Amusement Park went forward as scheduled.