In a global perspective, the World's largest shopping mall, the South China Mall in Dongguan, China, contains approximately 7.1 million square feet of shopping space in a complex that totals approximately 9.6 million square feet. Although it features the usual amenities for a mall (a fourteen-screen movie theater, a gaming arena, a typical variety of stores, and a soon-to-be-completed dramatic theater), its biggest claim to fame is the Middle East's first indoor ski slope, Ski Dubai.
With the ski area, one of the largest in the world, the Mall of the Emirates seeks to differentiate itself from the dozen or so other newly completed malls in Dubai and the surrounding emirates. Half of the mall opened in September 2005, then officially opened in late November 2005 with the inauguration of the ski area, although it had already been in operation for several weeks. It is located in the Al Barsha area of Dubai.
