Chinese embrace Halloween to escape pressure

Young people dressed in Halloween costumes celebrate the western festival at Lan Kwai Fong in Hong Kong on October 31, 2013. [Photo: China News Service / Tang Yanjun]

Halloween offered the opportunity for many Chinese youngsters to unwind and forget about the pressure of school and work.

Halloween, which fell on Thursday night, was not about observing a western tradition but taking time out to relax and have fun.

Jiang Lingling, an accountant in Beijing, dressed up as a zombie for a party.

"I liked Halloween. It offered me a chance to go to a party and forget about stress at work," said Jiang.

"Besides, it's the only chance in the year that I can wear a costume I want and do not need to worry about being laughed at," she said.

Elsewhere in the country, people were getting into the spirit of the occasion.

In Changying Studios theme park in northeast China's Jilin Province, staff dressed up like zombies and ghosts.

At shopping booths in a downtown commercial center in Changchun, capital city of Jilin, Halloween pumpkins and costumes were on show.

Zhang Li, store owner of Qiansege, admitted to knowing little about Halloween but stocked products due to increasing demand.

This year, she sold 400 Halloween lamps compared to 300 last year. She also sold 250 masks, 50 more than last year.

At Taobao.com, China's largest online shopping platform, there were more than 700 Halloween-related items on sale at Qianqfang, which sells clothing and accessories.

"All the children at school were asked to make their own costumes with the best and most scary outfit winning a prize," said Chen Yanyan, a parent in Changchun.

Kang Jia, a teacher at an English language school, dressed up as a vampire and taught her students how to make pumpkin lamps.

"In previous years, few people showed up at our Halloween party. But this year, nearly all the students and faculty attended and some even made their own costumes," said Kang.

Guan Zhong, dean of the Journalism and Communication Department in Jilin University of Finance and Economics, said celebrating Western festivals such as Halloween has become a trend in China but that the cultural meanings of such events have been neglected.

"Trick-or-treat is not popular in China, and young people are just making use of the occasion for parties and other recreational activities to reduce stress," Guan said.

Chinese people are familiar with the subject of "ghosts". The Chinese equivalent of Halloween is the Ghost Festival, which falls on the 15th night of the seventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar. The festival is a time for families to pay homage to their ancestors.

However, few Chinese people who celebrate Halloween know that the festival is an occasion when people stock up on food and ward off ghosts to survive winter. It marks the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter.