Mall of the Emirates

This guide to Mall of the Emirates centers on Ski Dubai, the indoor ski slope built into the mall when it opened in 2005, and the nightly ritual of manufacturing tonnes of fresh snow while the desert bakes outside. It follows the glycol pipes and blast coolers hidden beneath the slopes, and the day in 2012 when someone decided to add a colony of penguins flown in from Texas. Best watched from the mall's food court, where the run is visible through the glass.