In the cradle of Chinese civilization, Christmas -- in all its commercial fury -- has taken Xi'an city by storm. Today, in this one-time imperial seat now famed for its terra-cotta warriors, storefronts blink Christmas red and green, Santa Claus poses for photos in supermarkets, employees don festive red caps and even the roaming garbage trucks sound a continuous synthesized variation of "Jingle Bells." Put simply, Santa and his cheer-wagon are everywhere.

Doubtless, this was not always the case. No one knows today how many Christians are in China, and estimates range anywhere from 15 million to the more than 60 million claimed by Western missions, hardly a dent in a population of over 1.2 billion. (Shady official statistics and a huge underground church presence render guesses even more speculative.) But the increasing number of public celebrants of this Christian festival in China illustrates a peculiar side of the present globalization: the apparent wholesale adoption of an alien custom, even if in this case it's proved to be largely secular in nature, little more than an excuse to drink and be merry.

On a corner of a well-trimmed Xi'an boulevard, the Wenbuo restaurant faces the impressive Shaanxi Provincial History Museum. And no more than a few hundred meters from the museum's antique jade and ceramic displays, the restaurant boasts a 2-meter-high Christmas tree, blinking lights and a window display of holiday greetings -- all in English. With tinsel and bulb ornaments hanging overhead, the manager, Yao Xiao'ai, says she began decorating the restaurant two years ago for the added atmosphere.