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SCMP Reporter

AS every child knows, Santa Claus lives in Finland - or Lapland, to be precise - and, every Christmas, his home in the snowy depths of the northern forest is a hive of activity.

  Santa receives at least 500,000 letters a year from children in 150 countries, including Hong Kong.

  Even letters marked simply 'To Santa Claus' are addressed to the Santa Claus Post Office in Santa Claus Land, Arctic Circle, SF96930 Rovaniemi in Finland.

  Here, in a village which boasts its own airport, an army of Santa's workers answers letters year round.

  Each Christmas also brings thousands of tourists to Santa's workshop and Heritage Home.

  Visitors can take a sled ride with Santa's reindeer (led by Rudolph the red-nosed one, of course), mail Christmas cards from Santa's own post office and listen to Christmas bells and songs beneath the blue, winter light of Lapland.

   Amid this magic, Santa Claus rocks in his chair, smiling and telling children stories about the wonders of Christmas.

  'I often receive letters from children asking me whether I really exist,' Santa said.

  'I am always a little startled at first. Then I pick up my pen and invite the children to Finnish Lapland, where I live an active life all year round.'   Santa Claus Land is a special place.

   There, reality and dreams walk hand in hand.

  The legend of Santa Claus continues in Lapland.

   Santa is a myth, a fascinating and homely figure incorporating the medieval legend of Saint Nicholas, the protector of children and the poor, and the benevolent forest elves of ancient fairy tales.

  While the Christmas gift-giving tradition began around 200 AD, two centuries after the Three Wise Men brought presents to baby Jesus, Santa did not emerge until the 18th century in Europe, when he materialised on postcards.

  He was wearing a green or red mantle with a sack of presents on his back and a bunch of twigs in his hand, just in case he encountered naughty children.

  Interestingly, the original Finnish Santa was dressed in grey, home-spun clothes.

  His red jacket and trousers were introduced in the late 19th century as a result of German and American influence.

   Artist Thomas Nast was probably more responsible than any other for Santa's modern-day image.

  Nast illustrated the Christmas poem, The Night Before Christmas, with a friendly, pot-bellied old man who dropped down chimneys with presents for children.

  The caricature has remained more or less the same ever since as the most enduring and beloved legend of our time.



Lapland blends myths, reality