Christmas comes to Gubei

Water town is decking its halls for the holiday season: There are Santa visits, decorated trees and crooning choirs

Santa Claus is coming to town - Beijing's Gubei water town, that is.

The attraction, also known as Beijing WTown, recently announced that it's celebrating the Christmas season until Dec 31 with traditional decorations and festive activities for visitors, especially families.

It's hosting parades, a daily Christmas market with snacks, homemade gifts and outdoor Christmas-tree lighting ceremonies every Saturday.

A choir sings carols in a hilltop church. Kids can make cupcakes and decorate trees and enjoy children's stage plays at night.

Santa passes out gifts. Visitors can write him letters or send him postcards. Lucky guests will get replies.

Gubei will also host traditional temple-fair activities starting from the Western New Year on Jan 1 to prepare for the upcoming Chinese Spring Festival, including paper-cutting, shadow-puppet shows and cross-talk comedy.

The 430,000-square-meter water town opened in 2014. Its buildings follow the styles of the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, as well as the early 20th century.

It's located at the foot of the Simatai section of the Great Wall in suburban Miyun district's Gubeikou town.

Simatai is known for its precipitous landscape. Its undulating terrain and geographic location made it an important military fortification in ancient times.

The 5.4-kilometer-long wall with 35 guard towers is one of the only stretches of unrestored Ming-era Great Wall. Some bricks are inscribed with characters that indicate who created them centuries ago. Tourists can also take a 15-minute ride in a helicopter to have a bird's-eye view of the zigzagging Great Wall in the mountains.

The town is 120 kilometers from Beijing's downtown and 80 kilometers from downtown Chengde, Hebei province. Buses travel between Beijing's Dongzhimen and Gubei water town.