Halloween revellers throng Shanghai, some wearing costumes seen as a protest to China policies

autotldr Bot , 8 months ago

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Click here to see the summaryCelebrations in the Chinese financial hub began on the weekend, culminating on Tuesday in a large crowd of mostly young people that gathered around a popular bar area, according to onlookers and social media posts. While most attendees did not dress up and many of those who did wore outfits like monsters and superheros, some attracted attention on social media for costumes such as blue and white hazmat suits that gained infamy in China last year for being used by authorities enforcing COVID-19 curbs known as “dabai”. Social media posts from Tuesday and the days before included one of a man donning boards illustrating China’s slumping stock market and another dressed up as Lu Xun, a famous author whose works have been popular among Chinese youth as they grapple with historic rates of unemployment. "The ‘dabai’, COVID-19 testing, A-share market…that Shanghai people dressed up as are all elements that speak to the trauma of the times and traces of history. Public critiques of government policies are rare in China, where authorities have been cracking down on free expression. There was little sign of aggressive efforts to stop the gathering by police, but some people in costumes that could be perceived as subversive were filmed being escorted away. — Saved 45% of original text.