China warming up to Halloween
To the editor:
Halloween is beginning to make inroads here in China. Before the People’s Republic of China there were a variety of holidays and celebrations that people celebrated. Holidays are what help us to mark the changing years. Walking through the shopping center next to the dining halls now show some of the Halloween trappings that are now harbingers of things to come as Winter wakes up.
China often acts like a collection of shop keepers. Where we will have 10 stores they will have a hundred. Each store often no more than a broom closet. Thus the three-story shopping complex is a great microcosm of a typical shopping environment. Those who remember the old general store format would find these places amusing. You will have a drug store between a jewelry store and a lingerie shop. Across from it will be a clothing store and then down the pathway is a photo studio. Popular now are the nail shops and makeup counters. Chinese girls favor pale white skin.
For the guys, across from the jewelry store is the basketball store. Basketball is expanding. Shoe stores with all sorts of designs and patterns are pushing their wares. Ironic to see the Converse brand as a full service brand here in Guangzhou. Those old high tops are still popular. Not certain if the students who wear that brand understand the meaning of all the slogans and designs.
As one meanders through this hodge-podge of shops and entertainments you find small indications of Halloween. A few orange witches’ hats; a blend of Harry Potter film connections and standard witches wear. Those hats are blaze orange so would look perfectly at place in the woods up home. Then you will find some spider webs, skeletons, and glowing eyes. Not many and not as obvious as American stores. But like the Converse store, plenty of ghosts to spook everyone. It’s a question of Boo Who?
Orpheus Allison
Guangzhou, China
orpheusallison@mac.com
