International City, Dragon Mart 1-1 — Local services in Dubai

Dragon Mart , a Market place for Chinese goods , in Dubai International City is located on the outskirts of Dubai - on Dubai-Oman road.

The wide range of Chinese goods on sale at this huge Market Place is simply mind blowing . The best part is that you can bargain for prices - a handbag that my wife particularly liked - was finally bought @ 200 Dhs as against 300 Dhs originally quoted . That apart , unlike most Malls, there are plenty of benches and seating places provided thoughtfully throughout the Mart that allow you to rest your tired legs for a while . And at the end of the visit, or halfway through it , you can satisfy your taste buds with a delicious vegetarian pizza and Zataar - a very popular middle eastern spice loaded dish - downed with fresh sugarcane juice, at the lively El Hammis Cafe . The taste will linger for sometime after you have finished your meal :)

And while departing, you could nibble at some sliced pieces of Thai mango , buying them from one of the fruit juice vendors . They are really tangy , quite unlike the sweet mangoes that we get back home .

Advisory: As the Dragon Mall is at quite a distance from downtown Dubai, visitors to Dubai must go there only if they have sufficient time on their hands, and a private vehicle . Public buses take a lot of time to get there , and taxies are frightfully expensive .Rashidiya on the Green Line, is the closest Metro Station ,...

Dragon Mart is a huge shopping destination that really feels like a mini China in Dubai. The place is massive, with endless shops, but honestly, the prices are very expensive compared to even the big branded malls in Dubai. You would expect cheaper deals here, but surprisingly, the quality and pricing don’t match up.

Today I bought a Lego-style building block set (not the original Lego) after a long round of bargaining with the shopkeeper. The fact that there are no fixed prices in most shops is frustrating, as it shows that they charge different prices to different customers. After all that bargaining, I still paid 100 dirhams, only to later find the exact same product in a discount center (Al Kabayel) for just 25 dirhams — one-fourth of the price!

In my experience, Dragon Mart looks attractive at first, but in reality, you can often get better quality products for cheaper prices in other malls or discount centers in Dubai.

Better quality products with 14 days return policy are found in other shops like Al Kabayel, Nesto, LuLu...

It's not as good as how it was before. It's no longer a cheap place, the prices has increased significantly for the same item sold in the mall, sometimes even higher. Be really mindful of what you wanna get and do as much research as you can beforehand. Ample parking space, complete facilities from ATM, food court, and prayer room. However, despite the massive mall size, there's no resting place here, other than the chairs at the food court. Like the name suggest, all items are made in China, and you will literally find everything you need. There's only one religion...