Santa Claus might have never expected that he could be so popular in China.

Christmas trees and baubles are decorating homes, shops, restaurants and office buildings in major cities, while images of Santa and Rudolph are young urbanites' favorites.

About 90 percent of 2,000 Chinese recently surveyed said they would have special arrangements on Christmas Eve. For them, Christmas is the second most important holiday in China after the Spring Festival.

Bars and karaoke halls are expected to be packed with customers on Saturday night as 43 per cent of respondents are planning to have a night of revelry, according to the survey conducted by the Social Survey Institute of China in 14 big cities.

"Christmas is a season for partying, shopping and even romance. It's a reward for our one year of hard work," said Zhang Yapeng, a 25-year-old computer software salesman in Beijing, on Friday. He was touring various bars to find the best venue for a big party with friends on Saturday night.

Bar owners are expecting to cash in on the Christmas Eve. "We expect to have about 300 customers tomorrow night, four times than usual," said Chen Jie, owner of Nashville in the eastern part of the capital, on Friday.

In Party World, the largest karaoke bar chain in Beijing, all rooms have been booked four days ahead of Christmas Eve.

"The price for each party room will be 890 yuan (US$110) per hour that night, but there are no vacancies," said an operator with a Party World branch in the eastern part of the city. His branch has at least 100 rooms.

Christmas banquets in star hotels in Beijing, priced between 1,000 to 2,000 yuan (US$120-240) per person, have almost all been ordered two days ahead of the big day.

"We've sold all 700 tickets," said Wijaya Chew, marketing communication manager of the Great Wall Sheraton Hotel. "Our lowest price is 1,588 yuan (US$ 196), which covers food, drink and performances," he said, adding that most customers are Chinese.

Christmas also enjoys a growing popularity in the country's remote cities such as Yan'an on the Loess Plateau in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

"For me, Christmas is another Valentine's Day," said Yan'an college student Li Shan. "I will get my girlfriend a gift of love and go downtown with her to have fun on Christmas Eve."

Meanwhile, stores are seeing a surge in pre-Christmas retail spending. "Silent Night" and "Jingle Bells" are played and discounts of up to 50 per cent are offered in shopping malls.

Almost all stores in Beijing extend their closing time on Christmas Eve some to 2 or 3 am. Oriental Kenzo, a shopping centre northeast of the city, will open for 36 hours continuously starting 9 am on Saturday. "Sales during the last couple of days were quite strong, so I think we'll have a record Christmas sales this year," said its manager Liu Shouxian.

Churches in Beijing will witness a large attendance in masses on Saturday night. North Cathedral, one of the oldest and biggest Christian churches in the capital, is expecting 3,000 to 4,000 people to attend the mass. Many will just go there to experience the Christmas atmosphere.

Traffic authorities announced there will be traffic control around major cathedrals in the city starting 6 pm on Saturday.

(China Daily December 24, 2005)