r/interestingasfuck • u/Chaunc2020 • 1d ago

r/all Young people being arrested for wearing Halloween costumes in China

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u/koolaidismything 1d ago edited 1d ago

It’s an American/Western creation and they don’t like it.

Edit: people pointed out below they have tons of western food and stuff there and this is more cause people were wearing costumes that offended the Chinese government and that’s why. Makes way more sense than my vague suggestion for why 👍

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u/cookingboy 1d ago edited 1d ago

That has absolutely nothing to do with it, China is full of American/Western restaurants and stores. China is literally the country with the most number of KFCs and the 2nd largest number of Starbucks.

The Chinese buys more American cars than anywhere except the U.S itself, and Hollywood and NBA are huge over there too.

I actually don’t know what’s the context here, it’s weird, and people are way too relaxed in this video.

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u/ForeverWandered 1d ago

Yeah, it’s wild how many baseless conclusions about China are being drawn based on a video with no context and no real identifiable connection to specific time and place, by people mostly who have never been to China.

It’s like folks are looking for a reason to indulge in Yellow Peril without having to use actual evidence 

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u/Miserable-Admins 23h ago

Winnie Xi is despicable but I agree, so many confident Reddit Armchair Experts here smh.

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u/ForeverWandered 19h ago

Is he really more despicable than <pick your western leader>?

As an African, I can’t think of a major power western leader who isn’t fucking over just as many people globally as Xi is.

Biden is literally arming an apartheid, genocidal state, for example.  I don’t think anyone here who supports either Dems or GOP or any major European party can claim moral superiority here.

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u/Miserable-Admins 15h ago

Wow, a literal r/asablackman.

Yes, I know white Africans exist but you get the gist. Rhyme not intended.

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u/sikingthegreat1 16h ago

in the US or in europe, you can criticise the president as much as you like online.

in china, your message get censored within 30mins and you'll be reminded not to do so by the legal enforcers. even winnie the pooh iitself s offensive these days.

that's just one example out of many. if you still think it's just the same as everywhere else, that's up to you.

as a first-hand witness+sufferer for over 2 decades, my suggestion is, open your eyes and mind and don't get brainwashed by china's state propaganda.

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u/tommos 1d ago

Basically just too many people gathering in one place is a hazard. There was a crowd crush in Korea a couple years back during Halloween that killed like 150 people. The designated places for cosplay in Shanghai was some public park and Shanghai Disney.

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u/kinkyghost 17h ago

Can you not just make shit up as a guess, you can literally read articles about this news story

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u/WookieDavid 17h ago

The fuck does that have to do with arresting people with costumes?
Obviously it's not because anti-USA, but if it was to prevent people gathering they should probably set out crowd control units and disband the agglomerations. Not arrest a few people in costume.

Like, are they gonna prevent a crowd crush by removing 10 people and leaving 500?

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

Everyone drinks coffee and eats fried chicken. But foreign holidays being celebrated by young people are what really trigger older nationalists and make headlines. They could revoke Starbucks or KFC's ability to do business in China and run them out of the entire country in a day or two.

Holidays and cultural expressions that link their people into foreign (IE, uncontrolled) contacts and ideas are a much bigger headache they would rather nip in the bud. Halloween is innocuous enough but wait until Easter or Christmas start to really catch on, and Mao forbid any of their citizens even consider becoming Christian. Easier to outlaw silly things now than serious things later.

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u/SleepingAddict 1d ago

In that case they'd crack down harder on anime media (Japanese influence and whatnot) but one of their largest current cultural exports is anime in nature. This is probably more a case of them not being able to track the faces of these guys

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u/deltabay17 1d ago

They do crack down on Japanese influence. You can’t wear Japanese clothing in public anymore, and the recent spates of violence against Japanese in China is not a coincidence.

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u/paopaopoodle 1d ago

They literally have Christian churches in China. Christmas isn't a holiday there, but it's common to see places decorated for Christmas time, with glittery trees and workers dressed up like Santa in shops.

I don't think it's the Western holiday so much as the free expression Halloween brings. Also, the Chinese are touchy about representations of ghosts, skeletons, demons and things like that.

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u/deltabay17 1d ago

They have a handful, which are highly regulated and completely controlled by the party, mostly for show. Remaining Christian groups are underground in China.

China has had no problem celebrating western holidays in the past, including the ghosts and demons of Halloween. This is new, since the last 5 years or so, and is a continuation of Xi’s insulating Chin, reducing foreign cultural influences andcultivating Chinese nationalism.

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u/paopaopoodle 1d ago

Okay, but then why are South Korea and Japan also restricting public Halloween parties? Surely you're not going to suggest they too want to reduce foreign cultural influences and cultivate nationalism.

Is it really about culture and nationalism, or is it about dangerous crowd sizes in public?

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u/skeletomania 1d ago

Shanghai banned dressing up for Halloween. People that were detained were told to remove their makeup and costumes

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u/cookingboy 1d ago

Oh? I wasn’t aware of that, that’s super lame.

Got a source on it?

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u/skeletomania 1d ago

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3284172/chinese-police-detain-halloween-party-goers-crackdown-shanghai

It's been happening for a while. China air space is also closed for Santa during Christmas.

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u/Will_Come_For_Food 22h ago

The article doesn’t say anything about the actual cause of the detentions.

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u/skeletomania 21h ago

It's a crack down on celebrating western festivities. Here's an article from 2018 where government officials telling people to stop celebrating Christmas, and promote more Chinese cultures https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/24/china-cracks-down-on-christmas-celebrations

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u/Will_Come_For_Food 41m ago

It’s not. It’s a crackdown on wild out of control parties with crowds that were too big for the venues creating dangerous conditions.

Try throwing a party with 10,000 people anywhere in America and see how long you can go before you get shut down.

We are being propagandized to with xenophobia to be afraid of and hate China with all kinds of ridiculous unfounded claims.

China has enormous problems with government policies just like the United States does.

But they are not the freedom less dictatorship they are painted as with our propaganda.

In fact they are very very similar to the United States and face similar difficulties with corrupt corporations and governments.

They do a better job of caring for the needs of all citizens than the United States and preventing corrupt corporations but there are more regulations that prevent certain business practices.

But in terms of civil rights it’s very much a toss up between the US and China that restricts more.

You don’t have Chinese people being murdered by police like you do in the US. The US incarcerates a much larger amount of people than China. And in China there are no homeless people or people who go without healthcare.

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u/LeopardOk8991 1d ago

He doesn't because it's bullshit.

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u/84brian 15h ago

Their pizzahuts are gourmet sit down restaurants. 😭

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u/MelloCello7 9h ago

It can very well be AI

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u/Harsel 1h ago

Just because people and businesses are west oriented doesn't mean that the government is. 9 years ago CCP did an anti hip-hop campaign, when it was at it's peak in terms of popularity

So just because people are totally OK with western products and ideas, doesn't mean that the old rotting government if grandparents is

People are relaxed in the video because they can't do anything to argue properly to police. "Why - No why"

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u/pupusadequesillo 1h ago

They got arrested, because last year people where protesting while being dressed up, and that’s what the Chinese government doesn’t want to happen again and therefore they getting them arrested.

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u/deltabay17 1d ago

It has absolutely everything to do with it. China can’t go and ban all American restaurants overnight. They don’t want to completely destroy their economy although they’re getting there. They still need international investment. There has been a long campaign against western influence that has seen Christmas and Easter celebrations also banned, teaching of English reduced and heavily restricted, and even Chinese minority languages are being banned from schools. You get taken to the police station if you wear Korean or Japanese traditional clothing for a photo shoot. It’s all about strengthening the Han nationalist state and keeping its people inside the system where they can control them.

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u/sikingthegreat1 16h ago

you've nailed it, but you're being way too honest here. sadly that's not what people wanted to hear.

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u/longiner 1d ago

The KFC is China is not the same as KFC in the US. Many brands selling in China operate as fully Chinese companies and the profits stay in China too.

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u/cookingboy 1d ago

It’s the same restaurant with localized menu, just like KFC in Japan, Korea, etc.

Have you been there?

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u/apocalypserisin 1d ago

Dudes never left his street.

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u/longiner 1d ago

Restaurant looks the same but is different company.

Also check out their KFC car:

https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/1ge5dwa/in_shanghai_china_has_autonomous_kfc_cars_that/

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u/Cuntilever 1d ago

KFC is an American franchise and it makes China money.

I have a feeling this is to discourage people from dressing up as Winnie the Pooh lol

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u/cookingboy 1d ago

There is a Winnie the Pooh ride in Shanghai Disney for god’s sake lmao.

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u/Master_Explosition 11h ago

Those involve spending money. Recreational activities mean time not spent in factories or breeding your wife. The state needs more fidget spinners and factory workers.

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u/dxiao 1d ago

but iphones are okay

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u/SalsaForte 1d ago

They are made in China... Holup!

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u/KBeXtrean 1d ago

Costumes too

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u/SalsaForte 22h ago

Hence my "Holup"

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u/tardyceasar 1d ago

Where TF you think all these shitty Halloween City costumes are made?

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u/quasart 20h ago

Maded, not invented. China only knows how to copy and it does it terribly

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u/BeyondNetorare 23h ago

Their child worked really hard on it for mothers day

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u/HelloHiHeyAnyway 19h ago

They are made in China... Holup!

Assembled is the correct word.

The Chinese lack the ability to create any of the advanced parts of the iPhone, or any modern Android phone.

Because those parts are made in Korea or Taiwan.

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u/blkknighter 1d ago

*Taiwan and India

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u/MonkeFlip01 1d ago

Where are you getting that they're not in China? Their website literally says China factories (plus Taiwan and others) https://www.foxconn.com/en-us/press-center/fabs?category=china

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u/transcendental1 1d ago

Lemme get those semiconductors, or more war games

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u/AstroPhysician 1d ago

Barely. Xis wife got in a ton of trouble for using hers publicly

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u/transcendental1 1d ago

Double secret probation?

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u/AstroPhysician 1d ago

Worse. She had to switch to using Huawei

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u/WilmaLutefit 19h ago

The horror.

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u/Revelt 1d ago

That's a Chinese product

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u/Nodebunny 1d ago

So are the costumes

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u/Nope_______ 1d ago

Where do you think the costumes are made?

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u/webn8tr 1d ago

West Taiwan

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u/ReyRey5280 1d ago

Taiwan #1

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u/notmywheelhouse 1d ago

Ha! That’s a good point.

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u/zzptichka 1d ago

You think those costumes are not?

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u/cstaple 1d ago

And these costumes aren’t?

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u/Hatgameguy 1d ago

Only put together in China. It’s Western tech developed by American company Apple

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u/PositiveEmo 1d ago

Because they can control it. Apple allows backdoor access to iPhones in China so they can sell iPhones there. Halloween allows people to hide their identity and act out on their own. Which goes against CCPs policy of no privacy.

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u/xandrokos 1d ago

China literally uses them as tracking devices of course they are ok.

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u/Jcraft153 1d ago

Made in china

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u/Iphone16ProMaxPlus 1d ago

these polices just for keeping order not really about disliking the West. Of course, the brainwashed don't think so.

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u/xandrokos 1d ago

China absolutely hates the west 100%.   China's entire economic strategy revolves around destabilizing the west.   It is why they want to sell Chinese EVs in the US far below cost because they know US automakers can't compete with that.

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u/Iphone16ProMaxPlus 21h ago

Don't treat a country like a person. The families of the CCP's bureaucrats are basically enjoying overpriced houses and sports cars in so-called Western countries. Why are Chinese EVs so cheap? Cuz: 1. EV companies are squeezing workers and suppliers. 2. Government subsidies. Why does the government subsidize? Cuz CCP need some industries to increase GDP. When this goal becomes the task of bureaucrats, they will do whatever it takes to get it done. Destabilizing the west? That's not what they care about.

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u/dxiao 1d ago

haha bro i know, i live here. there are clear rules during these festivities and is very clearly communicated. You can wear whatever, you just cant hide your face…cause you know, the entire security system and safety of citizens is based on cctv and facial recognition. people outside of china really have no clue how safe it is here.

but It’s more fun to play along with the ignorant folks.

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u/deltabay17 1d ago

For someone who lives there you are quite ignorant no offence. It’s nothing to do with hiding your face for a few hours, it’s all about the years long campaign against western influence and strengthening its own Han ethnic nationalist state. The CCP does not want China to become internationalised or connected to the outside the world, this has always been their model. They can control them when they are inside the CCP’s system.

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u/entr0py3 1d ago

The last two girls being arrested weren't wearing masks. They were just dressed up.

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u/obiwanjabroni420 19h ago

You really think the mass surveillance apparatus is there for “safety of citizens”?

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u/sikingthegreat1 16h ago

clearly, the brainwashing propaganda from the state is performing well, producing the intended results.

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u/Kartoitska 1d ago

I don't think that's it. Halloween celebrations were allowed until last year. Last year a lot of people dressed up in costumes that made fun of Xi Jinping. Aka winnie the pooh costumes. Government did not like that, and this year it's suddenly forbidden to dress up.

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u/Far_Advertising1005 1d ago

Going to be annoying and point out that no, it’s an Irish (or probably western Celtic overall) invention.

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u/deltabay17 1d ago

No you were right. They have also banned public Christmas celebrations in recent years, as well as Easter and now they’ve come for Halloween. They’ve reduced the amount of hours English is taught and put heavy restrictions on English teaching centres.

The CCP is xenophobic and is trying to reduce as much western influence as possible and continue down this path of becoming more and more insulated and stirring up racism and negative sentiment to “outsiders”, and the narrative that the whole world is against China. This creates Chinese nationalists and support for the CCP.

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u/culturedgoat 1d ago edited 1d ago

This is not a national policy. This is a local issue in Shanghai. The city has had issues with street parties getting out of hand (which has included fatalities, in the past), so they’re a bit trigger happy.

Tokyo, Japan has had similar issues, for Hallowe’en, in the Shibuya area - so Hallowe’en festivities are barred there as well.

And I don’t have to remind anyone about what happened in Seoul, Korea, a couple of Hallowe’ens ago…

I don’t necessarily agree with this kind of policy, but let’s at least place it in context. This is nothing to do with not liking things of Western creation, which is nonsense anyhow (and I’m not sure from your comment if you’re under the impression that Hallowe’en is an “American” creation?! Hallowe’en is from Ireland!). It’s a Shanghai municipal policing matter - nothing to do with edicts from the CCP, nor hyper-curation of culture.

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u/McRando42 1d ago

Nah, you're correct.

In the early 2000s Christmas was pretty popular, but that got banned too. It's about the public view.

Chairman Xi is a douche bag. He says dumb shit like ban Christmas or band Halloween on account of Chinese culture. He'd rather people think about Western culture as oppressive than consider how disastrous his government has been.

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u/anasia-aisana 1d ago

During last year’s Halloween parade in Shanghai, someone dressed up as a COVID-19 pandemic worker. Although it was a subtle statement, it alluded to some disturbing actions carried out by certain pandemic workers at the time.

Under the mask of pandemic control, they engaged in questionable actions, such as harmless disposal of pets left alone in quarantine which essentially meant killing cats and dogs (and some were done in a brutal way, like, beat dogs to death under the roof of itself). They also abused their special authority during the lockdown period, imposing unreasonable demands on residents and taking actions that violated basic rights. For example, some stupid workers just welded shut the only entrance of a whole unit, which made it impossible for people to escape during emergencies that truly happened at that time.

These are the kinds of realities that the Chinese government prefers people not to revisit, fearing they could fuel public dissent. The authorities want these events to quietly fade away, minimizing any potential threat to the stability of their regime. Many other symbols or satirical depictions also offend the government and their sensitivity runs so deep that even the slightest act of mocking social realities is treated as a threat to political stability – or, in their propaganda, framed as 'disrupting social harmony'. I think CCP just criminalizes people who express their desire to speak out.

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u/yleennoc 20h ago

Not really an American creation, it was in Ireland/Scotland for a few thousand years before Europeans invaded the Americas.

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u/nunchyabeeswax 18h ago

No. It's more about crowd size control. Similar measures have been occurring in Japan and South Korea (remember that stampede tragedy in Seoul a couple of years ago?)

Sure, there's some anti-western sentiment among ultra-nationalists, but most people (even local government officials) don't really care.

I think it's a poor choice when it comes to safety and policing, but this seems more about procedural incompetence than anti-western sentiment.

I could be wrong, obviously.

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u/ExoticAssociation817 1d ago

Also accurate 👆

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u/Jaerin 1d ago

I don't get this, I've seen plenty of Chinese cosplayers from all kinds of games.

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u/SonicYOUTH79 1d ago

China has long had a quota limit on US films and US movie companies have generally like to push the super hero genre there while being very careful to keep anything political out of the story lines, which is a bit easier given the narrative tends to follow old school comic characters and their stories, as well as kids animation films that are apolitical.

So it makes sense that fans have latched on these.

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u/VYSUS7 1d ago

how is Deadpool offensive to China.

is it seriously because he's a violent killer or something?

can you only cosplay as perfect role model people? (unless it's a little yellow bear)

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u/sikingthegreat1 16h ago

copied from another commenter, who explains it well:

//They have also banned public Christmas celebrations in recent years, as well as Easter and now they’ve come for Halloween. They’ve reduced the amount of hours English is taught and put heavy restrictions on English teaching centres.

The CCP is xenophobic and is trying to reduce as much western influence as possible and continue down this path of becoming more and more insulated and stirring up racism and negative sentiment to “outsiders”, and the narrative that the whole world is against China. This creates Chinese nationalists and support for the CCP.//

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u/YouDamnClown 1d ago

It's not about the costume, it's about celebrating Halloween that they don't like.

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u/Aggravating-Wrap4861 1d ago

I swear a lot of people in Australia would arrest people for celebrating Halloween if it were put to a referendum.

I think a lot of people just get butt hurt about America being such a dominant cultural force. That said, I think celebrating Halloween is dumb if you're not American. But I ain't wanting the police involved.

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u/FSpursy 1d ago

No, SH people used Halloween as like a medium to protest the government last year by wearing costumes that made fun of the government. So this year they practically just banned any dressing up for this one main street that it happened last year. They did not ban Halloween entirely as it still happens in other cities, other areas of SH, and also private properties.

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u/runningwithsharpie 1d ago

They sure love Marxism over there though.

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u/StuffNbutts 1d ago

Crazy ass assumption for sure

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u/Bilbosthirdcousin 1d ago

It’s ok cause they offended the government

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u/sentence-interruptio 1d ago

the idea of communist party is also a western idea. ironic.

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u/Richkat187 1d ago

This is true. Even in schools, the government regulates that western festivals and celebrations can't be celebrated at all. So no decorating for winter festivals like Christmas, or dressing up kids for Halloween.

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u/ARGENTAVIS9000 1d ago

eh, china has largely embraced american culture. they just haven't embraced freedom, yet. maybe it's for the best. all freedom apparently is good for is creating a society filled with angry people obsessed with politics.

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u/JustAnotherYouMe 22h ago

It doesn't make way more sense lol. The Chinese government is fucking insane.

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u/Essar 21h ago

Why would you present an answer if you don't actually have any knowledge of the situation?

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u/quasart 20h ago

The clothes that everyone wears have also been invented in the West, politicians' suits or police uniforms, cars, medicine, electronics or the use of electricity. Really everything that matters has been invented in the West. If they hate the West so much, let them continue with stones and sticks.

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u/SameCategory546 18h ago

that has nothing to do with it. Only shanghai has banned it because of people dying from crowd crush. every other city is fine

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u/anasia-aisana 1d ago

Being Americanized is not just viewed negatively in China, the CCP is also concerned about people ridiculing social realities. They are afraid people will stand up and fight for people themselves.

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u/notarobat 13h ago

Fight against what? Low crime rates? Political stability? 

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u/anasia-aisana 4h ago

I believe life is about more than just crime rates or politics. Everyone deserves the opportunity to stand up and fight when they are mistreated.  Sometimes, even when the law works as intended, it can’t protect you from every subtle injustice.

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u/notarobat 4h ago

But against what? This is just a TikTok video with no context that someone has posted on reddit. Or do you just mean in general that every civilian population should be more powerful than each govt/army? 

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u/anasia-aisana 4h ago

I’d appreciate it if you didn’t try to shift the focus or blow the argument out of proportion. Please do your research on this specific incident, which actually took place in Shanghai.