Foreign or Chinese Santa? Check budget

Santa Clauses can be busy during the Christmas season - especially the foreign Santas.

Those with foreign faces are in high demand by luxury brands because they resemble the "actual" Santa Claus more than Chinese models. Less discriminating institutions and families usually choose a Chinese Santa.

"Our Christmas services ended a week early because all of our models were booked," said Hu Meng, a Shanghai-based agent for brands such as Cartier and Swarovski with foreign models.