Preparing Christmas around the World

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In many places around the world, it is definitely beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Santas are making appearances from Beijing to Beirut, and the traditions of the season can be seen all over - the trees, the lights, the shoppers, the devout and more. Collected here are a handful of recent photographs of people enjoying and celebrating this year's Christmas Season as it hits full swing.

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A man dressed as Santa Claus holds a flare as he wakeboards on a small lake in Hamburg, Germany on December 5, 2010. (REUTERS/Christian Charisius)

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Christmas lights shine behind a tree in Nervion in Seville, Spain on December 11, 2010. (CRISTINA QUICLER/AFP/Getty Images)

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People stand in 30 Rockefeller Plaza looking at the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree after it is illuminated at the annual lighting ceremony November 30, 2010 in New York City. Crowds of thousands gathered to watch the lighting of the 12-ton, 74-foot tall Norway spruce in one of New York's cherished holiday rituals. (Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

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Santa Claus Larry Durian is screened by TSA agents before entering a secure area of the Akron Canton Airport Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2010 in Green, Ohio. Santa planned to spend seven hours at the airport greeting passengers for their customer appreciation day. (AP Photo/The Repository, Scott Heckel)

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The Choir of King's College Cambridge conduct a rehearsal of their Christmas Eve service of "A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols" in King's College Chapel on December 11, 2010 in Cambridge, England. The choir's performance, traditionally held on Christmas Eve, was introduced in 1918 and is broadcast to millions of people around the world. (Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

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A Christmas tree is installed on Red Square with St. Basil Cathedral and Kremlin's Spassky Tower, right, in the background, in Moscow, Russia on Thursday, Dec. 2, 2010. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel)

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People watch fireworks during the illumination of a giant Christmas tree at the launching of 2010 Christmas Festivities in Beirut, Lebanon on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2010. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

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Donald Boyce, dressed as Santa Claus, does a "shaka" as he shares a wave with a surfer while riding in an outrigger canoe off Waikiki beach in Honolulu, Hawaii in this still image taken from video December 11, 2010. (REUTERS/Outrigger Hotel)

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The U.S. Capitol Christmas tree, after a lighting ceremony on Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2010, in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

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U.S. President Barack Obama and his daughter Sasha attend the National Christmas Tree lighting ceremony on the Ellipse in Washington, D.C. on December 9, 2010. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

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A woman smiles as she takes part in The Great Scottish Santa Run in Princes Street gardens in Edinburgh, Scotland on December 12, 2010. (REUTERS/David Moir)

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Fireworks explode over a floating Christmas tree as it is lighted for the holiday season in Lagoa neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Saturday, Dec. 4, 2010. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

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A participant in the Light Festival Parade, held to start Christmas celebrations in San Jose, Costa Rica on December 11, 2010. (YURI CORTEZ/AFP/Getty Images)

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A girl plays in water illuminated with Christmas lights on December 4, 2010 in Medellin, Colombia. (RAUL ARBOLEDA/AFP/Getty Images)

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Santa Claus walks through a Christmas Tree Farm on December 12, 2010 in Mellensee near Berlin, Germany. According to the German timber industry association, Germans are expected to purchase about 29 million Christmas trees this season. (Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)

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During the annual Santa Speedo Run, which started at the Lir Irish Pub & Restaurant, these runners take up the rear of the race on December 11th, 2010 in Boston, Massachusetts. (John Tlumacki/Boston Globe)

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A man stands inside a snow globe as part of Christmas decorations near a shopping center in Taipei, Taiwan on December 7, 2010. (REUTERS/Nicky Loh)

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A trumpeter plays in front of a Christmas tree at the Bergparade (Mountain Parade) during heavy snow flurry in Seiffen in the Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains), Germany, on Saturday, Dec. 11, 2010. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)

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Skiers and snowboarders dressed as Santa head down the slope Sunday, Dec. 5. 2010 as part of the 11th annual Santa Sunday at Sunday River in Newry, Maine. Participants get a free lift ticket if they dress as Santa and donate $10 or more to the Bethel Rotary Club's annual toy drive. (AP Photo/Joel Page)

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Chinese police break up a group of nearly 100 foreigners taking part in SantaCon - a worldwide event that sees people don Santa's familiar red suit and white-brimmed hat and make merry in cities around the world - in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China on December 11, 2010. The Santas were ejected from Tiananmen Square. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)

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Space-themed Christmas decorations hang over Carnaby Street on November 29, 2010 in London, England. (Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

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Johanna Heller, dressed as a gold-foiled Christ Child, recites the traditional prologue for the opening ceremony of Germany's oldest Christkindlesmarkt (Christ Child Market) in Nuremberg, Germany on November 26, 2010. The first official record of this pre-Christmas market dates back to 1628. (REUTERS/Michaela Rehle)

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A Christmas tree is on display, with a monument to Soviet state founder Vladimir Lenin in the background, at a square of the city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia on December 9, 2010. (REUTERS/Vladimir Konstantinov)

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A walrus named "Nuka" snacks on a holiday cake at the New York Aquarium in the Brooklyn borough of New York on Dec. 6, 2010. Aside from being a tasty snack, the cake serves as an animal enrichment exercise. Aquarium staff introduce unusual items into an animals environment from time to time in order to provide it with mental and physical stimulation. (AP Photo/Wildlife Conservation Society, Julie Larsen Maher)

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A man dressed as Julenissen, Norway's Santa Claus, paints a wooden "Matryoshka" doll as he takes part in Christmas festivities in Moscow, Russia on December 7, 2010. (REUTERS/Denis Sinyakov)

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Staff at the Amazon.co.uk Swansea fulfillment center process orders as they prepare for what is expected to be their busiest Christmas on record on November 26, 2010 in Swansea, Wales. The 800,000 sq ft fulfillment center is the largest of Amazon's six in the UK. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

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Runners dressed as Santa Claus take part in the 2010 Santa Dash in Liverpool, England, on December 5, 2010. The annual race sees thousands of competitors run the 5km course through the streets of the city center. (PAUL ELLIS/AFP/Getty Images)

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A woman tests the lights of Christmas decorations beside her son sleeping inside their makeshift stall along a busy street in Manila, Philippines on December 11, 2010. The Philippines celebrates one of the longest Christmas seasons in the world starting with dawn masses on December 16 and ending with the feast of the Epiphany in January. (REUTERS/Cheryl Ravelo)

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Christians hold candles during a Christmas mass at the Gelora Bung Karno stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia on December 11, 2010. Approximately a hundred thousand Christians gathered for the celebration in Jakarta's biggest stadium. (REUTERS/Supri)

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Glass maker and blower Will Shakspeare makes glass baubles in his workshop at Shakspeare Glass and Gallery on December 10, 2010 in Taunton, England. The traditional glass maker based in Somerset is currently hand making over 100 glass baubles a day to deal with the Christmas demand. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

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A man places illuminated house models at Germany's oldest Christkindlesmarkt (Christ Child Market) in Nuremberg, Germany on November 26, 2010. (REUTERS/Michaela Rehle)

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Huge backlit Santa Claus on the road in Berlin. (AP) Santa Claus gets a hug from Make-a-Wish Foundation child Emma Mear, 8, at Macy's in the Walden Galleria in Cheektowaga, New York on Sunday, Dec. 5, 2010. (AP Images for Macy's/Don Heupel)

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Huge backlit Santa Claus on the road in Berlin. (AP)

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More than 1000 people dressed as Santa Claus sitting on the steps of the Sydney Opera House after the annual charity marathon. (AFP / GETTY)

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Kylie Minogue performs at the ceremony of lighting the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center in New York. (GETTY)

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Children playing in an edible Christmas tree Candy «Ferrero» in Covent Garden, London. The tree is composed of 10,000 chocolates «Ferrero», weighs 200 kg and up to 3 meters in height. (PA)

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Some of the hundreds of people dressed in Santa outfits celebrate at Trafalgar Square in London. Hundreds of people dressed as Santa Claus have descended on London, startling commuters and tourists with a tide of seasonal cheer. Organizers of the annual "Santacon" festive flash mob say it is "a nonprofit, nonpolitical, nonreligious and nonsensical celebration of Christmas cheer, goodwill, and fun."(AP Photo/Sang Tan)

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Fireworks light up the sky above at Christmas tree during a lighting up ceremony at Cathedral square in Vilnius, Lithuania. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)

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Choristers in the choir of King's College Cambridge prepare to conduct a rehearsal of their Christmas Eve service of 'A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols' in King's College Chapel in Cambridge, England. The Choir was founded by King Henry VI in 1441 and is regarded as one of the world's finest choral groups. It comprises of the Conductor Stephen Cleobury, 16 choristers, who are educated on scholarships at King's College School, as well as 14 choral scholars and two organ scholars, who study a variety of subjects in the College. The choir's performance of 'A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols', traditionally held on Christmas Eve in King's College Chapel, was introduced in 1918 and is now broadcast to millions of people around the world. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

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A pilgrim touches an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe inside the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico City on Sunday. Pilgrims gathered at the basilica for the feast day of the Virgin of Guadalupe, Mexico's most popular religious and cultural image. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

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Runners, dressed as Santa Claus take part to the traditional "Christmas Corrida Race" in the streets of Issy Les Moulineaux, on the western outskirts of Paris on Sunday. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere)

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A solitary spruce tree, decorated with battery-powered holiday lights controlled by a timer, greets motorists traveling the Glenn Highway near Palmer, Alaska. Twin Peaks, located in the Chugach Mountains, are visible in the distance. (AP Photo/Anchorge Daily News, Bill Roth)

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Shopper carry their tree at a Christmas tree farm on December 12, 2010 in Mellensee near Berlin, Germany. Getty Images / Andreas Rentz

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Visitor photographing lights and illuminations at the exhibition «Caretta Ocean», held annually in November and December, in the Tokyo area Siodome. (AP Photo / Koji Sasahara)

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Children look at gingerbread town, which consists of hundreds of miniature buildings, boats, bridges and other edible buildings. Such a city "built" every year before Christmas. In its preparation involved 10,000 residents of the Norwegian city of Bergen. This year more than 2000 people participated in the "construction" of the city with more than 1000 buildings. (AP Photo / Marit Hommedal / SCANPIX NORWAY)