Beijing authorities have intensified efforts in recent years to curb foreign cultural influences, although not explicitly prohibited, official crackdowns are frequent. In a recent incident in Shanghai, a woman dressed as Santa Claus and distributed “peace apples” to passersby on the street, only to be taken away by the police. Upon arrival at the police station, she found a group of “Santa Clauses” waiting to be questioned.
According to the woman in the video, on Christmas Eve the 24th, she and her friends prepared many apples, intending to dress up as Santa Claus on Chang’an Road to give out peace apples to people passing by. While happily distributing them, they were unexpectedly approached by an auxiliary police officer citing “strange attire” as a reason for her arrest.
To her surprise, upon reaching the police station, she discovered that she was not the only one arrested. There was a group of people dressed as Santa Claus like her, waiting to be questioned.
She couldn’t help exclaiming, “I wanted to celebrate Christmas in advance with warmth, but ended up almost celebrating Christmas in the police station.”
In fact, restrictions on Western holiday activities have not only occurred in Shanghai. The installation art Christmas City at Jingmeng Forest in the Old City Wall of Xi’an temporarily suspended operations on December 24th and 25th. Schools in various regions such as Beijing, Tianjin, Jilin, Shaanxi, and Jiangxi issued “initiative letters” urging teachers and students to reject Western festivals, including the prohibition of exchanging peace apples.
For example, the Heilongjiang Hegang Education Bureau in the initiative letter stipulated that teachers and students are not allowed to exchange gifts related to Western holidays on campus, not to purchase related themed decorations, not to hold themed events or parties, and emphasized that teachers should set an example, and students should remind each other.
The Student Union of the School of Management of Jia Geng College, Xiamen University, also issued a notice requiring teachers and students not to organize or participate in gatherings or celebrations related to Western holidays, not to sell or promote Western holiday decorations and propaganda materials on campus, and not to excessively promote the holiday atmosphere on social media.
Beijing Jing Shi Yangguang Sanyi Road Kindergarten also issued a notice on its WeChat public account, urging teachers, students, and parents not to overly emphasize the holiday atmosphere, and instructed teachers not to accept peace apples from children and parents, while also prohibiting students from bringing peace apples into the kindergarten during the Christmas period.
Official propaganda has sparked public discontent. Netizens have sarcastically commented, “Laughing, a few days later, on January 1, 2026, it’s also a Western festival.” “Is wearing Western clothes considered strange attire?” “China is such a bizarre nation.”
Canadian blogger Zhang Yao posted bluntly, “Taiwanese youth create an online Santa Claus website, sending out 260 gifts; Chinese girls in Shanghai dressing up as Santa Claus distributing gifts get caught. Doing good deeds in Taiwan is called a cycle of kindness; doing good deeds in China is labeled as provocation.” Another blogger pointed out that continuous similar messages from Chinese media to deter people from celebrating Western holidays may only arouse more public grievances.