Halloween in China: The True Triller!

#halloween2024 Halloween, a Celtic holiday popular in English-speaking countries, has been widespread in major Chinese cities since the late 1990s. Together with international students and English language teachers, carnival parties have become popular among Chinese youth. Now, every year on the eve of October 31, bars and clubs prepare themed events, and residents of megacities puzzle over costumes, which are becoming more difficult to choose every year. The store, together with Baopals, decided to find out if there are Chinese relatives for All Saints' Day, and prepared its own selection of must-haves for Halloween this year. Feast of Hungry Spirits When local supporters of the holiday propose to ban the celebration of Halloween and Christmas in China, they are primarily concerned that due to the popularization of Western holidays, young people are losing interest in their own cultural traditions. They knew a lot about lost souls in China — stories about ghosts and werewolves from folk folklore in the 20th century penetrated into cinema, especially in Hong Kong. Like medieval Christians who believed that with the shortening of daylight, the boundary between the worlds is erased and restless souls can enter ours, the Chinese also believed that during the seventh month of the lunar calendar (鬼月 the month of spirits), it is worth fearing hungry ghosts who dream of changing places with living people. On the 14th (or 15th in different regions) of the 7th month of the lunar calendar, China celebrated the Feast of Hungry Spirits (in the Buddhist tradition or in the Taoist tradition, it usually falls on August). According to legend, on a full moon, hungry spirits were forgotten by their descendants, as well as those who died an unhappy death penetrate the world of living people in search of food or a candidate for an exchange of places. To calm the irritated ghosts, they are presented with food, ritual money is burned, and lanterns in the shape of lotus flowers are floated along streams and canals.