Harbin Institute of Technology said it “does not encourage” the observance of foreign holidays.
A university student in northeastern China was far from thankful after receiving a Thanksgiving gift from a dorm supervisor.
The student at Harbin Institute of Technology in Heilongjiang province opposed the supervisor’s gesture of gratitude in handing out chocolates on the American holiday.
Screenshots from a dorm chat group on messaging app WeChat show the student arguing that the school shouldn’t be celebrating Western holidays, and threatening to complain to university officials if such behavior continued.
On Friday, the university said the student’s message to “remind” the dorm supervisor was “out of kindness,” adding that it “does not encourage ‘foreign festivals’ and will strongly prohibit religious activities on campus.”
The university’s statement has been met with backlash online, with many saying they are disappointed in both the student and the school.
”The student is being a bit extreme with the dorm supervisor’s kindness, while the school is backing the student. It’s terrible,” one user commented under a related media post on microblogging platform Weibo.
In recent years, several Chinese cities have discouraged celebrating Western holidays including Halloween and Christmas. Last year, a county in the southwestern Guizhou province banned Christmas celebrations at local schools “out of concern for student safety.”
