Letter from Mideast: Walled city of Bethlehem falls quiet as Christmas nears

by Xinhua writer Li Jun

JERUSALEM, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- Before visiting Bethlehem, the city best known as the birthplace of Jesus Christ, I scoured countless online travel guides for tips and advice.

"Expect long lines," many reviews cautioned. Yet what I encountered was jarringly different: a place wrapped in an unsettling silence.

Standing alone in Manger Square, in the shadow of the Church of the