Dubai

Many of the tourist activities explored in Dubai, a travelogue produced and narrated by Katrina Wright, underline the artificiality of the towered city that rises incongruently from the sands of the oil-rich state that is part of the federation known as the United Arab Emirates. At the Mall of the Emirates, for example, parka-clad visitors ski, sled, and snowboard indoors, where the temperature is kept at 20 degrees Fahrenheit (outside, temperatures average 81 in the summer). Wright, an unabashed American tourist, rides a camel on the beach and attempts (unsuccessfully) to “sand board” down some dunes in the desert before holding on as her driver makes wheelies in his 4WD vehicle. She visits a mosque and a lush 18-hole golf course, watches belly dancing, samples shawarma (a kind of sandwich) and eats local delicacies, tries a hookah, and, of course, goes off to shop. In fact, aside from a quick stop at a Muslim cultural center, not much is offered about Dubai's history or culture. But why bother when there's a mall where 220 of the stores sell nothing but jewelry and gold, right? Larger travel collections will want to consider, but this is optional elsewhere. Aud: P. (F. Gardner)