Dubai

Dubai (Cause Dubai article is always good)

History

Dubai’s earliest record was in 1095 in the “Book of Geography”. Little is known about Dubai’s first habitants and how did they got there, even though tools and other stuff had been found.

Dubai came to the protection of the United Kingdom by the “Exclusive Agreement” were UK agreed to protect Dubai against the evil Ottoman Empire back in 1892. During the 1800’s Dubai suffered two great tragedies: the first one was a smallpox epidemia in 1841 that forced people to move to Deira, then a fire burned most homes in Deira in 1894.

However thanks to Dubai’s geographical location traders and merchants were attracted; making Dubai a major trade site. Dubai major industry was pearls; yes pearls exports, until World War I struck and Dubai suffered a major lost in its pearl production, leading to a deep depression. This depression caused many people to starve or migrate.

In 1947 Dubai fought a war against Abu Dhabi because of a border dispute, but then British government said “No war no” and created a buffer frontier that lead to a cessation in hostilities.

After years of searching, oil was found in Dubai in 1971. Remember the deep depression they went to? Well since oil was found Dubai became a major oil exporter and its population increased by %300.

On 2 December 1971 Dubai, together with Abu Dhabi and five other emirates, formed the United Arab Emirates after the former protector, Britain, left the Persian Gulf in 1971. They all agreed to use the UAE dirham as they currency.

Dubai was affected by the 1990 Gulf war; but many companies moved their business to Dubai.

Dubai is now a great place for tourism.

 Culture

Dubai is a highly cosmopolitan society with a diverse and vibrant culture. The influence of Islamic and Arab culture on its architecture, music, attire, cuisine and lifestyle are very prominent as well. Since 2006, the weekend has been Friday-Saturday, as a compromise between Friday's holiness to Muslims and the Western weekend of Saturday-Sunday.

Major holidays in Dubai include Eid al Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan, and National Day (2 December), which marks the formation of the United Arab Emirates. Annual entertainment events such as the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) and Dubai Summer Surprises (DSS) attract over 4 million visitors from across the region and generate revenues in excess of $2.7 billion (in other words Dubai’s pretty rich). Large shopping malls in the city, such as Deira City Centre, Mirdiff City Centre,BurJuman, Mall of the Emirates, Dubai Mall and Ibn Battuta Mall as well as traditional souks attract shoppers from the region.

Etiquette is an important aspect of UAE culture and tradition, to which visitors are expected to conform. In Dubai you need to wear traditional clothing, they want to protect the public from cultural insensitivity.

During celebrations singing and dancing also take place and many of the traditional songs and dances have survived to the present time. Yowalah is the traditional dance of the UAE. Young girls would dance by swinging their long black hair and swaying their bodies in time to the strong beat of the music. Men would re-enact battles fought or successful hunting expeditions, often symbolically using sticks, swords or rifles

Basically Dubai’s culture is reigned by the Islamic religion.

Food

Arabic food is very popular and is available everywhere in the city. Fast food, South Asian, and Chinese cuisines are also very popular and are widely available. The sale and consumption of pork, though not illegal, is regulated and is sold only to non-Muslims, in designated areas of supermarkets and airports.

Now if you want to drink alcohol while you’re on Dubai, you need a special permit. Alcohol consume is regulated and can be found on bars and hotels; but just at night, since Dubai is known for its wild- I mean- nightlife.

Places you shouldn’t miss
Everything. Every single place of Dubai is amazing. But here are some examples:

Dubai’s Opera House It’s a cultural center with capacity of 2, 500 seats, a theatre of 800 and a 5,000 square meters in art galleries. Burj Kalhifa It’s a skyscraper located in the center of a great complex that crosses town in a transversal way. Aquadventure This water park is located in the Atlantis hotel, it has slides, swim with sharks, artificial beaches and much more. Desert Safari This is a tour onDubai’s desert, it’s amazing since you can do sand board, ride a camel or even have a henna tattoo. Al-Mahara Restaurant Now if you go to Dubai you can’t miss the opportunity of going to this amazing restaurant. I would go into detail but since it’s the world’s most expensive restaurant… go under your own risk. Ok so these are just examples; but since Dubai is one of the most expensive cities in the world I think that’s enough… watch the next pictures of Dubai and feel bad for not being able to afford going there.  This is the view from a skycrapper from Dubai Dubai's famous nightlife.