Beijing's bar street in Halloween mode tonight
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Pumpkin lanterns, coffins and young people dressed up as vampires, witches, and ghosts are filling the bars in Beijing's Sanlitun bar street tonight, giving the district a spooky yet festive ambience as revelers gather to celebrate Halloween.
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Beijing's bar street in Halloween mode tonight |
Halloween-themed posters and pumpkin lanterns of various sizes are hanging on the entrances of bars. Inside, Halloween-themed parties that started Friday continue for a final night.
"I have been a ghost at Halloween parties at this bar for the last ten years," said a bar tender surnamed Li. "It is common nowadays for young Chinese to have fun on Western festivals."
Halloween is observed in China's larger cities, like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, where more expatriates tend to live.
The Chinese equivalent of Halloween is the Ghost Festival, which falls on the 15th night of the seventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar.
Buddhists and Taoists hold ceremonies that day to give succor to suffering ghosts. Family members offer prayers, food and drinks, and burn joss paper to pay homage to their deceased ancestors and relatives.
