MOHE (CHINA) – In this northern China Christmas village, Santa Claus and party are busy turning the destination into a frosty wonderland for visitors.
Sitting cosily in a two-storey wooden house with about 100 Father Christmas dolls, Santa, who is dressed in a red suit, takes down seasonal wishes with a quill and poses with tourists at the theme park outside Mohe, the northernmost city in the country.
“If they want postcards, I write down my wishes and guests can send these cards to their friends or parents,” said Finnish national Ville Haapassallo, 35, who is working there as Santa until March.
The village has a Christmas post office apart from giant ice sculptures, and it is the Chinese avatar of Finland’s famous Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi.
One of the favourite pastime of tourists throwing boiling pots of water into the air and watch it form arcs of ice.
Dubbed as China’s Arctic Town, the place holds the record for its lowest-ever temperature of minus 52.3 Celsius (minus 62.1 Fahrenheit), on Feb. 13, 1969.
The highlight of the trip for most visitors is the meeting with Santa.
“I’ve achieved my childhood dream,” said Huang Liwen, 30, who came all the way from Guangdong province in the south.
“It’s a real Christmas now in Santa village, where we can see the real Santa Claus … It was really worth the trip.”
