Shop til you drop with great deals, celebrations, arts and trade from across the Middle East - from traditional desert arts to haute couture and millionaire making prize draws at the Dubai Shopping Festival. Attracting millions of visitors every year, it's a celebration of non-stop shopping bargains and store giveaways.

Dubai is labelled the "shopping capital of the Middle East". With so many shopping malls and souks including gold, rugs, spices and mega malls, grab a duty free bargain by shopping in Dubai

Thailand is a Buddhist country and the people are very superstitious. A lot of people wear a Buddhist amulet believed to ward off evil.

Thai Silk has a rough texture and is heavier than Chinese or Indian silk. In the brightest of colours and often bearing traditional flame patterns, it is still a popular buy if you're shopping in Bangkok.

Bangkok is infamous for its gemstones. The blue or black sapphires that are indigenous to Central Thailand are some of the best buys, plus zircons, garnets, cat's eyes, tiger eye and turquoise, as well as rubies from Myanmar and Cambodia.

Southeast Asian arts vary drastically in value - just buy what you would like in your home. Asian Galleries and Elephant House showcase fine Thailand antiques

Puebla, about 80 miles from Mexico City, is a beautiful colonial city, populated with well preserved churches, ex-convents and monasteries. Puebla is famous for its gastronomy and for the hand-wrought, tin-glazed Talavera pottery and tiles that are made here.

From traditional tailoring and glamorous Ascot Races hats to bad boy flamboyance - always daring to be different are British Fashion Designers


English silver has such a solid international reputation because the law dating back to the 1300s states that items must be hallmarked. The enchanting underground London Silver Vaults in Chancery Lane are world famous both for their unique history and the incredible variety of items made from this precious metal.