Christmas in China and Santacon
Hundreds of Santas in the historical district of Beijing on the Houhai Lake bridge. In the back you can see the Bell Tower.
Christmas in China is very different. It's not a holiday. No time off from work. No special holiday sales. It's just like every other day. Except for those that celebrate Christmas, of course. There are several places with decorations, but many of them set it up only a couple of days before the 25th, and if previous years are any indication of what will happen, only take them down in March.
Just like many other cities in the world, Beijing has a Santacon. I would guess 99.9% of the Santas that attended where foreign, from places that celebrate Christmas. So here are some pictures I took during the 2015 Beijing Santacon.
"Mozart Santa" along with all other Santas sing Christmas carols in the Subway line 2.
A wave of Santas heads to the Gulou (Drum tower) region of Beijing, on the Line 2 Subway
Walking through the historical hutongs, as the little Beijing alleys are called.
Santa interacts with a local worker doing renovations that must be thinking "what are these foreigners doing? Strange group of fellows."
Group photo in front of the Bell Tower (Zhong lou).