A mother from Zhuhai, Guangdong Province said she supports the kindergarten to celebrate any kinds of festival as long as the kids are happy. "Playing and having fun is the most important thing at their age, right?"
Shi, deputy head of a private kindergarten in Beijing, said the private ones usually celebrate Western festivals as they have English teachers from the West.
This year, the celebration will begin at 2 pm on Halloween at her kindergarten. "We will help the kids dress up and apply makeup. There will be a group dance before class activities, including playing 'trick-or-treat' with neighboring classes," Shi told the Global Times. "It's an opportunity for kids to exercise their expressiveness and feel festive joy."
On Christmas, the school will hold the biggest party of the year in which each class will give a performance, she said.
Calling for a boycott
While the parents are arguing, the businessmen are happy. Pumpkins sell out fast these days. Online sellers of props and costumes for Halloween and Christmas are also busy. On taobao.com, a search for "Halloween's costumes for children" has 18,000 results of shops alone.
Supermarkets, amusement parks and even museums don't want to miss the chance either to attract customers. Weeks ahead of time, they started to decorate and organize activities.
On October 17, a dozen young people dressed up as vampires and zombies boarded a subway in Chengdu. It was a publicity stunt held by the Chengdu Happy Valley amusement park to promote its month-long Halloween carnival.
However, the stunt led to an outcry. On its Weibo, the Chengdu Metro authority said "Such kind of behavior on the subway is against social morality. It not only shocks passengers, but also harms the city's civilization. To such acts, Chengdu Metro firmly says 'No'." In addition, they posted one of the pictures of the costumed riders and wrote "say no!" over it.
The "rejection" received many supporters, as well as many opponents.
"They are creepy and contradict Chinese culture that shuns ghosts and devils," commented a Weibo user.
"The culture is diverse and people get more inclusive. Isn't it better that the young people bring in some more interesting cultures?" said another Weibo user.
There have been voices calling for the boycott of these festivals. In 2014, the education authorities in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province banned all schools in the city from holding any Christmas-related events. Separately, Northwest University in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, required its students to watch Confucius-themed documentaries on Christmas Eve.
Hope for reforms
Nevertheless, He Youlin doesn't think such divisive words are wise.
"Our festivals weigh much on customs and dining. But when livelihoods have greatly improved, people pursue spiritual needs. Western festivals can be amusing and creative, which meets young people's needs," He said.
Besides, Chinese festivals are usually all on the Chinese lunar calendar, which is harder to keep track of, which also contributes to their popularity decline, he noted.
The trend of traditional Chinese festivals losing popularity won't reverse unless we make changes, he suggested.
"In my memory, the public organs, factories, companies or communities would all decorate their gates before when the festivals like Middle-Autumn Day, the National Day came. But now, many of them are silent," He said, adding that the festivals have simply become holidays for traveling.
He advises the government to readjust and prolong the holidays for the major festivals holidays, and require various work units to create a festive atmosphere by flying national flags and holding military parades every five years.
Ideology and patriotism have become heated topics in recent years. In January 2015, China's former Education Minister Yuan Guiren said that Chinese universities should maintain "political integrity" and never "let textbooks promoting Western values appear in our classes."
President Xi Jinping has warned several times about the ideological penetration of Western forces. In a speech made in 2013, Xi described ideological work as "extremely important." In a speech made at a national Party school work conference in December last year, Xi criticized some Party members as advocates of "Western capitalist ideology," and noted that there are hostile forces who attempt to subvert the Party's rule and faith in Marxism, socialism and communism.
Zhou Fengli believed that the popularity of Western festivals is mainly created by commercial activities. "They are losing their original religious and cultural connotations," he said.
Zhou also thinks it is a symbol of the diversity and inclusiveness of the young generations. "Just like 'double 11' day, which had been celebrated as Singles Day, but has now become a shopping carnival. You can choose not to celebrate, but there's no need to oppose it," said Zhou, who is a public servant now.
Public kindergartens usually don't celebrate these Western festivals, said Shi, who has engaged in preschool education for 13 years.
A parent surnamed Li of a 11-year-old boy in Beijing said the schools don't celebrate Western festivals, either. "My kid's school has recently organized a series of activities to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Long March, such as recitation contests and artistic performances," he said.
