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BBC MUNDO RADIO
SHANGHAI, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) - The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is displaying to visitors at the Shanghai World Expo that tents can be a story of great success for addressing the dilemma between limited land space and the housing of a huge population. At the Urban Best Practices Area at the Expo, the Tent City of Mina Pavilion is showcasing 18 life-sized tent models, with a standard diameter of 26 meters, with the largest measuring 7.2 meters in height. These tents are being used to demonstrate the feasibility of housing a large number of people in a limited space, a staff member at the Pavilion said, adding a large tent could house up to 40 people. It was the first time that Saudi Arabia has showcased the Tent City of Mina in the history of the expo, Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Shaikh, the Commissioner General, said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua Wednesday. The Tent City of Mina, located some 7 km to the south-east of Mecca and 14 km to the north-west of Mount Arafat, is where over three million pilgrims from all over the world travel to and stay for three or four days during their journey to the holy city of Mecca. Each Muslim is called upon to travel to Mecca once in his life, a religious ritual that has been going on for more than 1,000 years, said Abdulrahman. Long ago, pilgrims erected tents for shelter during their religious journey, according to an introductory statement on the Saudi Pavilion website. But the random use of tents and unsafe cotton structures wasted already limited space and also posed safety hazards, particularly from fires. Over the last 15 years, said Abdulrahman, the government of Saudi Arabia had invested in the desert valley of Mina to develop it into a modern city built with durable and fireproof tents equipped with cooling systems, water, and electricity supplies. No fire disasters have occurred during these past 15 years, he said. Abdulrahman said, of the nearly three million Muslims who come to Mina each year, about 2.5 million are from overseas. Countries participating in the Expo are trying to share their visions of "Better City, Better Life" , the theme of the Shanghai Expo. The Mina case seeks to provide the world with one of the best examples in crystallizing a better urban environment for human life in one of the largest tent cities ever built , a statement from the pavilion website said. The Saudi Arabia Pavilion is among the most popular sites at the expo, as visitors normally have to queue for more than three hours to get inside, clearly drawn to the expansive and dynamic videos showing the people, cities, and geographic landscapes of the country, while being transported around the pavilion on a rolling conveyer belt. As of Wednesday, the Saudi Pavilion has received nearly 3.2 million visits, according to figures from the pavilion website.
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