Merry Christmas, Jouni

To develop tourism, Mohe has invited a Santa Claus from Finland to stay every year since 2011. Jouni is the twelfth Santa in the village, and his job requires him to stay in this small village on the China-Russia border for six months, until the last winter snow melts. To experience the latest results of the integration of local culture and globalization, I decided to try being an intern Santa for three days. At first, watching Jouni interact with tourists made me think the job was simple—just put on the Christmas outfit, strike a pose, and take photos. However, when I actually started interacting with the tourists, I realized it wasn’t as easy as I had imagined.