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Drop till you shop

Mike Currie

'SHOPPING? I'VE DRIVEN 300 kilometres across the prairies to Canada's fifth largest city, and you're telling me the main attraction here is a mall?' I couldn't believe my ears.

The bartender wasn't joking. 'Believe me, it's an experience you'll not forget. Just make sure you take your credit card.' My wife's eyes lit up, I tried to change the subject, but I knew that tomorrow I would be spending (and spending, and spending) a day in the West Edmonton Mall.

I would leave Canada with overweight luggage and an underweight bank account, but I have to admit, the West Edmonton Mall will blow your mind.

It's the biggest shopping and entertainment complex in the world, covering more than 478,000 square metres (5.2 million sq. ft), and is so popular that it draws more than nine million tourists a year.

They fly into Edmonton in Alberta from all over Canada and the United States on package tours, just to shop. Many never even leave the mall during their visit to Edmonton. It has two hotels, one a theme hotel called Fantasyland, which lives up to its name.

The two-storey complex is so big that it is almost overpowering. You could explore it for days. Some 1.6 kilometres from end to end, it spans the equivalent of 48 city blocks, employs more than 23,000 people and has covered parking for 20,000 vehicles.

I spot a mega-store selling pool tables and that's it. I'm happy. I agree to meet my wife three hours later, and we go our separate ways, but this is barely time to scratch the surface of the mall.

There are a dozen different pool tables on show. Now how many apartments in Hong Kong would have space for a pool table? In Edmonton, the winters are cold and the homes are big. Its 995,000 residents have to keep themselves occupied indoors.

Most bungalows have basements measuring up to 1,000 sq ft, so their owners build sauna baths, Turkish baths, photographic dark rooms, bars with pool tables, playrooms for their kids, and extra bedrooms for guests. They even install giant hot tubs in the basements and invite their friends around. They all jump into the jacuzzi and drink wine or beer while watching videos.

Everything they need will probably be on sale in the West Edmonton Mall. It has more than 800 shops and department stores and around 110 restaurants and fast food outlets.

Money goes further in Alberta, too. Unlike the rest of Canada, Albertans don't have to pay eight per cent purchase tax on goods. The province is oil-rich.

Canadians elsewhere face a total of 15 per cent extra on just about everything they buy, as they also have to pay a seven per cent Goods and Service Tax (GST). Many make special trips to Alberta from other provinces in Canada to go on a spending spree, escaping the purchase tax.

The West Edmonton Mall has so much to offer that it has an official souvenir book, which is on sale at Chapters, the biggest bookstore I have ever seen. To find your way there, and make sure you don't lose your bearings, ask for a free map and directory at any one of the information centres at the mall. Yes, it is that big.

Chapters would dwarf even the largest bookstore in the SAR. I quickly fill my bag here with books that are not available in Hong Kong, including Auto Repair for Dummies. Perhaps soon I'll be able to stick my head under the bonnet and fix a problem instead of compounding it.

They actually encourage customers to browse in Chapters. Sofas are provided on which you can read in comfort.

And if you become a little disoriented in the maze of bookshelves, just approach an assistant. They'll do a computer search, and lead the way.

There's even a coffee shop in Chapters, but of course they expect you to buy the book before you take it there. Coffee stains. Yuk! But the West Edmonton Mall is much, much more than a shopping trip. You could, if you have the will power, have a terrific day out there, and leave carrying nothing but your car keys, credit card untouched. If you want thrills, you can go bungee-jumping, or free-fall on the Drop of Doom machine that plunges 13 storeys at a speed of 88 kilometres per hour before making a soft landing.

Buy a day ticket for the giant indoor fairground if you have time (and the stomach). Put your kids on the gentle carousel which has hand-carved and hand-painted horses, while you take the scary Mindbender Roller-coaster, which has a triple loop track more than 1,200 metres long.

If you want an even more gripping experience, then learn rock-climbing. The wall has sections for novice, intermediate and expert climbers, and an expert is on hand to help.

Even if it's freezing outside in winter, Edmontonians can go sunbathing in the mall's glass-domed World Waterpark. It covers two hectares and the pool is the size of around four Canadian football fields. It even makes its own waves.

You can go underwater in one of the channels between the rows of shops near the Waterpark in mini submarines, and later watch dolphins perform, free of charge.

An exact replica of a Spanish galleon floats nearby. It was constructed in a Vancouver shipyard and transported in 16 pieces to be reassembled in the mall.

Among the other attractions are miniature golf, the Ice Palace skating rink (the NHL's Edmonton Oilers ice hockey team have practices open to the public here during the season), sea life caverns where you can see sharks and giant turtles, and even a casino.

There are two hotels. The Fantasyland Hotel has 126 themed rooms. Take your pick. You could have one based on a Hollywood film set. Or, if you like, Roman, Polynesian or Arabian. Your bed can be a Victorian coach with driver and horses (no the horses aren't real, think of the carpet. Nor is the driver). Furniture is in the style of the Victorian era.

In another room, bed is the back of a half-tonne pick-up truck. Or sleep in a mock-up of a railway carriage. There is even a 600 sq ft igloo, with huskies to keep you company.

Among the interesting statistics they like to tell you is that the mall is so big that it has three postal codes.

It uses the same amount of electricity as a town with a population of 50,000. The walking track is three kilometres long.

My three hours are nearly up. I need a rest. I'm off to Bourbon Street. It's indoors, part of the mall, of course, and themed after that famous street in New Orleans. Cheers! Here's to the West Edmonton Mall.

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