Supporting foreign holiday

But it seems most parents are not worried about such celebrations. The five parents interviewed by the Global Times all showed support for Halloween.

"We should be open-mined. Celebrating Western festivals doesn't mean a denial of our own culture," mother of a 3-year-old in Beijing told the Global Times. "Besides, I don't think it's wrong that we admire US-led Western civilization, which has its charms. Otherwise, why don't we celebrate African or Indian festivals?"

A mother of a 6-year-old surnamed Wang from Guiyang, Southwest China's Guizhou Province believes Halloween is a good chance for the kids to showcase their personalities.

"My daughter chose to dress up as Elsa from Frozenlast year. This year, she plans to be a wizard," Wang told the Global Times. "Thanks to the almighty Taobao, you can buy whatever props or dresses you want. They cost me no more than 100 yuan ($15) each time."

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.