China's young and savvy consumers have turned Christmas into a lucrative business.
Christmas shopping has been so frenetic that in Chengdu, Taobao and Alibaba, two of China's biggest online trading companies, grossed 90 million yuan ($13.5 million) in three days leading up to Christmas, according to the Sichuan Daily.
But what does Christmas mean to the Chinese? "It's a festival in the West, right?" surmised Zhao Jing, a young salesgirl, who hails from rural Shanxi province.
"I know it's the birthday of Jesus Christ, as written in the Bible," said a middle-aged Beijing woman, surnamed Chen, as she shopped for a New Year's gift for her husband.
And the Shengdan Laoren? "He brings gifts, like candies and toys," gushed a boy with his mother on a shopping trip.