A VIST TO THE TALLEST BUILDING AND LARGEST SHOPPING MALL IN THE WORLD

When I was last here in 2015 I featured the 2717 feet tall Burj Khalifa, the highest in the world, here relative to competitors.

That's because the Saudi Arabia Jeddah Tower had just begun construction, and will become the first 1 KM (3281 feet) building.  Both this and the Burj Khalifa were designed by American architect Adrian Smith.  

• In 2018 construction was halted and the project today has not yet been re-initiated.  There remains hope that operation might still occur in 2026.  
• In 2020 I had another posting, showing that China had most of the really tall buildings.  But no more in the future, for they recently banned super-tall buildings.  Read this article explaining why.

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  In the meantime, not to be outdone, Dubai announced their 4300 feet observation Dubai Creek Tower, which began construction in 2016, and is also stalled.

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  However, there might have been some criticism for not having people live in the structure, so Dubai announced the tallest residential tower of 104 stories.  They already have the tallest residential tower, the 101 story Princess Tower at 1358 feet.

On our tour, it looked like Dubai had a lot of air pollution.  The guide said no, that is fog.  So I checked, and there is significant air pollution, which today is a dangerous 172.  Honolulu, for example, is 13.  Dubai gets some night fog 50 nights a year, plus there are sandstorms.

So on to our tour today, first, views from various levels of the Burj Khalifa. I won't bother to identify the structures, for I don't remember any details.  But the architecture is fascinating, just like Qatar, but a lot more towers.

I sat and had a glass of champagne, then noticed in the background the Museum of the Future, and just adjacent, the Jumeirah Emirates Tower Hotel, where we will next stay.

We stopped at three levels, and each had free drinks and tidbits.

Then onto the largest shopping mall in the world.  I rechecked into how many stores were in the Ala Moana Shopping Center, and the answer is 290.  

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  The Ashok Terminal 21 shopping tower next to our hotel in Bangkok has more than 600 shops.  
• The Dubai Mall has over 1200 stores, known as the largest in the world.
• So I checked, and it is the largest in terms of area at 12 million square feet.
• The SM Mall of Asia in Manila has 3500+ shops.

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  In addition to shops, The Dubai Mall has an ice rink, a SEGA game centre, a five-star hotel, 22 cinema theaters, with the largest indoor aquarium in the world and is the gateway to the Burj Khalifa.
• Coming soon is Dubai Square, which will be larger.

We then went to the Aquarium.

A very large fish.  Note size of the lady.

Saw an Emirates Air A389 simulator, where you could sit in the cockpit to stimulate flight.

All in all, a really tall building, very large mall and okay aquarium.  I stood around a lot waiting to enter certain venues, and my hams and lower back muscles today hurt.  It took us an hour in line to wait for a taxi to get back to the Le Meridian.

Today, we move on the Jumeirah Emirates Tower Hotel.

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