BY MARTIN KICH

Business Insider reports:

Many citizens and businesses around China have reportedly been forbidden to celebrate or put up decorations for Christmas this year.

Local authorities appear to be following President Xi Jinping’s burgeoning war against religion and what it considers foreign influences.

 China’s Communist Party is officially atheist and is increasingly clamping down on religion to assert its dominance.

Not long after I read the article in Business Insider, I came across the following photo in The Atlantic’s Photos of the Week newsletter:

Wang Gang, Barcroft Media via Getty

The photo was taken in Shanghai (where, in truth, the crackdown on Christmas has been much less pronounced). But I couldn’t help but think that it looks as if Santa has gotten the word and is trying to get out of town while he still can.

Best wishes on this holiday and for the coming year.