Soaking in the Culture in Dubai

In the decades after the first oil crunch of 1973, when the Arab world took different directions of development as a result of vastly improved oil revenues, Dubai opened itself to the cultural influences of the West. In consequence, Dubai became an amalgam of things Western in a Middle Eastern setting and background, a hodge-podge of Eastern and Western cultures. It is familiarly westernized, yet retains that delightfully quaint Mideast color and flavor. It is homogenous in its diversity, rather like an arabesque of harmonious colors, or the short skirt and the abayah coexisting in a symbiotic relationship.

As illustration, Dubai as a Muslim country celebrates Eid al Fitr, the last day of Ramadan, as a joyous occasion, but also welcomes the Dubai Shopping Festival that attracts more than four million visitors annually, with almost equal importance. During the festival, just exploring the giant malls like the Mall of the Emirates, BurJuman, the Ibn Battuta Mall and the Deira City Center can exhaust one's energies in a week, but will certainly increase the appetite to shop for the myriad items of every form and value. The Dubai Summer Surprises, an event of entertainments, is as valued as the National Day, anniversary of the establishment of the United Arab Emirates to which Dubai belongs.

Dubai's laissez-faire attitude towards life is exemplified by its cuisine. There is of course the Arabian food, which is famous and well-liked, and can be found in small cafes as well as luxury restaurants in many large hotels, which of course, will offer European, American and some Asian food as well. Arabian cuisine has a good following on top of 'first-timer' tourists sampling the preparations. What is significant is that Chinese cooking is also very popular, and so does the fast-food -or ready-to-eat- style of dining, in the emirate and city. This indicates cosmopolitan tastes in the locals as well as visitors.

Pork is not very welcome to the locals but is available to outsiders and tourists under certain terms and in specific places. So is alcohol, but to imbibe wines or liquor, a permit must be obtained from the authorities. Night clubs, bars and discos are mostly located inside the larger hotels due to the liquor restrictions. There are -and must be-limits, for after all, Dubai is still Arabian and Muslim.

For entertainment, Hollywood and Bollywood are both very much accepted; the annual Dubai International Film Festival enticing film personalities from the West to interact in a pleasant atmosphere with celebrities from the Arab world. For music, Santana, Celine Dion, Elton John, Phil Collins, Aerosmith, Diana Haddad and some others have performed in Dubai, aside from several metal and rock artists who performed during the Dubai Rock Festival.

Cricket and football are the most popular sports in Dubai, and that bespeaks of Continental influence. Tennis and golf are also played extensively, sometimes by world-famous figures.

So it is very reasonable for the New York Times, in a recent survey, to name Dubai as one most popular travel destination for 2008. Go to Dubai and see why it is very much justified.