Santa Claus, bearing gifts, is sighted climbing the railings of a shop along Wukang Road in Shanghai. Photo: VCG

A Santa Claus appears to clamber down the stairs on a bicycle at the entrance of an outdoor cafe on Yuyuan Road in Shanghai on Dec. 8. Photo: VCG

There is no stopping this Santa Claus from making his appointed rounds, as he’s shown hefting a gift bag high atop a building on a street in Xiamen, Fujian Province in southern China. Photo: VCG

A Santa Claus figure is shown climbing the patio of a cafe near White Pagoda Temple in Beijing on Dec.17. Photo: VCG

Actors dressed in Christmas-themed costumes ski past crowds at the Shanghai Disney Resort on Dec. 17. Photo: VCG

Further around the globe, a fire hydrant is shown wrapped in Santa Claus knitwear on a street in Weymouth, Britain on Wednesday. Photo: VCG

Firefighter Hector Chacon dressed as the jolly Christmas figure while dangling from a rope in Guatemala City, Guatemala on Dec. 17. Photo: VCG

Santa Claus brings messages of hope even to some of the world’s more desperate places. A migrant child wears a Santa hat at a makeshift tent in Mexico City, Mexico on Tuesday. Photo: VCG