The time when rival Santas showed up for an early China Christmas

Christmas didn’t take off in mainland China until the 1990s when the country was well on its way to opening up following the economic reforms of former leader Deng Xiaoping. The holiday, which focused more on the shopping and Santa side of Christmas, quickly grew to become a common fixture in the mainland, with the country even hosting its own chilly Christmas village in the northern Heilongjiang province. At the same time, there was a battle over where Santa came from.