Tent oasis in the desert

One champion of the Expo 2010 Shanghai theme of "Better City, Better Life," is a small tent city in Saudi Arabia. Mina, a city located on the pilgrimage route from Mecca to nearby Mount Arafat, is not the traditional, outdated city one might expect.

The city is known for its sophisticated urban planning, facilities and infrastructure and is featured at the Urban Best Practices Area in the Expo Garden as a testament to one of the world's most innovative and life-improving urban development experiments in the history of World Expos.

It is one of 55 city projects selected from 226 nominations from around the world for exhibition in the zone. For the first time in the event's history, cities were invited to show cutting-edge architecture and design concepts.