This is a country where “going to the mall” not only scratches that national itch to shop … but provides a significant fraction of the “out of the house” entertainment for natives and many expats.

We were reintroduced to this tonight, on a trip over to Khalidiya Mall (above), one of the four downtown malls of Abu Dhabi and the one I have spent the least time in.

But even more than the Abu Dhabi Mall and the Marina Mall and Wahda Mall, the Khalidiya Mall is all about “something to do” on these long, hot Arabian nights.

The point of going out was the latest raunchy comedy, “Horrible Bosses.” All of the downtown malls, aside from Wahda Mall, have multiplex cinemas, but we chose Khalidiya because the time worked best — coming from the office after our shifts ended at 7. The theater was quite crowded, and most of the audience was Emirati, which surprised me a bit because Horrible Bosses is packed with sex jokes and crudities, but no one walked out. Hmmm.

The mall, too, was very busy. People everywhere. And lots and lots of kids. Running. Skating. Chasing.

We saw them before the movie (crude but often entertaining), during dinner at the faux Mexican restaurant (as good as it gets here; taco salad about on par with Del Taco, and I mean that in the nicest way), and afterward as we were just looking around.

The UAE isn’t the only country in the world where regular folks go to the mall … just to go to the mall. But I’m not sure where it would be a bigger concept or a more routine stop.

Most anywhere else, people would also be in clubs, or in parks, or beaches … but those are not realistic options in Abu Dhabi in the summer.

Drinking alcohol is illegal here for Muslims. It is illegal in public for anyone. So it’s not as if most of the locals can go to a bar and nurse a beer or three for hours and watch a big-screen in a social setting.

The weather is so brutal that parks are pretty much out of the question, too. The overnight low is in the 90s with stultifying humidity. A few people go out and walk around Abu Dhabi’s green areas — which are surprisingly common, actually, given that this is serious desert. But an air-conditioned climate is far more attractive.

And the lack of parks and well-lighted public areas tends to steer people, especially people with kids, to the big malls.

Khalidiya seems to have the most kids and families in it (with Wahda Mall a close second) because it’s in a middle-class part of the city. Marina Mall, the newest, is clearly designed to appeal to wealthy locals and expats, and Abu Dhabi Mall, over in the Tourist Club area of the city, is near some posh hotels, and seems to be thinking of “visitors from the hotels” as their main demographic. Lots of upscale small shops at both of those malls.

Khalidiya, however … fairly ordinary shops selling basics like phones and electronics and shoes. Not much jewelry or haute couture.

It has the usual food court, which is a busy place, but also has a mini amusement park, on the top level. Some barf-inducing rides that are fun when you’re 12.

We also saw hundreds of teens circling around, most of the boys in long white kandouras and most of the girls in basic black abayas … watching each other but rarely speaking. If I understand this correctly, what sometimes happens is that they see each other and may know someone who knows that someone and then they text each other. A big social activity — texting the girl or guy you’re looking at from 50 feet away.

The little kids do what little kids do … making noise and running to and fro. And the parents just seemed happy to be inside a clean, will-lit space where they could window shop and let the kids run wild, knowing that little or nothing could go wrong.

Malls. The UAE. A match made in heaven.