Impressions of Dubai

Dubai is located in the middle of the Arabian Peninsula and is a shining pearl in the desert. There is almost no agriculture and almost no industry. Rich oil reserves and crude oil exports, important port locations, and developed commercial trade, logistics, finance, and tourism have built the prosperity here!

In the mid-18th century, villages began to appear, which meant that humans began to settle here. Before that, this place was a complete desert, with some weeds growing here and there, and some camels, antelopes and other desert animals living here. After the establishment of the port in the mid-19th century, Dubai began its rapid development, and the emirate system and urban model began to take shape. The discovery of oil in the 1960s brought Dubai's development into a faster lane, and one human miracle after another was built in this desert!

Why is Dubai’s prosperity a miracle for mankind? Because as mentioned before, Dubai is a desert area with almost no agriculture and almost no industry. All construction materials here need to be transported from foreign countries! Not only that, high temperatures and severe water shortages have also brought great difficulties to construction and development. The high temperature in Dubai in summer is often above 40 degrees, and dehydration will occur after working outdoors for a period of time. The current Dubai government stipulates that workers must take a mandatory 40-minute break for every 20 minutes of working. Slogans can be seen everywhere on the construction site: "No water bottle, no work!" No water bottle, no work! Each worker carries a water bottle to replenish water at any time.

Under the adverse conditions of extreme poverty of supplies and extremely harsh climate, Dubai took advantage of its port location and abundant oil to establish the prosperous Dubai we hear and see now. It is extremely difficult for Dubai to reach its current level of prosperity. It requires leaders’ strong will for development, extraordinary courage, and forward-looking vision. All three are indispensable!

Downtown Dubai is prosperous and luxurious, doing everything possible, but it is not as full of gold and luxury cars as advertised. There are many luxury cars, but most of them are Japanese brands such as Toyota, Honda, and Nissan. The legendary story that you can get rich by begging while holding a bowl in Dubai may always be just a legend. First, because the weather in Dubai is so hot, there are no pedestrians on the road except for the moving vehicles, so no one will give money to the beggars. secondly, because none of the richest people in the world is a fool, and the richest people in Dubai are no exception. Whose money is not earned through hard work, why do they have to be kind and throw it into your bowl?

Dubai is an international city, but it is not an international metropolis because it is really not that big. Dubai currently has a permanent population of 2.8 million, of which locals account for approximately 15%. In China, the population of most prefecture-level cities can reach 2.8 million, let alone megacities with tens of millions in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. The high-rise buildings we saw in the promotional video are just a small area that can be framed by a single lens. Beyond that, there are low-rise buildings and villas.

Sunlight, air, fresh water and soil are the four elements that make up life. Of these four elements, Dubai lacks two: fresh water and soil. Without fresh water and soil, it is difficult for plants to grow. Therefore, greening is a big problem in Dubai. In the suburbs, outside the areas where roads are covered with cement and asphalt, there is sand and no vegetation. There are some relatively green places in the city center, which require a lot of effort and money to maintain. Every tree is connected to water pipes and drip irrigation equipment. The high temperature is extremely hot, and the sand itself has poor water retention, so trees must replenish water in time.