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Salman, a member of the Bin Salman family, picks Taif roses ahead of the distillation process at the family's farm in the Saudi city of Taif. The family farm is open to visitors and offers a complete rural experience, including viewing the time-honoured tradition of extracting rose water and oil from the Taif rose, a prized component in the cosmetic, culinary, and other industries. It has become synonymous with the city itself, dubbed locally as the City of Roses.
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Taif, the calm and green summer-tourist resort city, is located in the western part of Saudi Arabia.
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A Saudi woman takes a picture of a rose orchard at the Bin Salman Farm in Taif. Fragrant roses, lush parks, sunny skies, and exotic birds and wildlife have for generations drawn families to this resort town each summer.
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Throughout the year, the city is one of the most popular holiday resorts. Above, tourists pose with picked Taif roses at a farm in the Saudi city of Taif.
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The resort city in the Makkah Region is famous for its wide variety of roses and their perfumes, including rose water and rose oil.
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Picked roses are packed in a burlap sack ahead of the distillation process at the Bin Salman farm in the Saudi city of Taif.
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Everybody coming in for a holiday to this beautiful city is expected to take home bunches of roses, or at least their perfumes, rose water, and perfume oil — as a souvenir of their enjoyable trip. Above, a tourist takes a photo with Taif roses at the Bin Salman Farm.
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A man holds up a handful of picked Taif roses. Every spring, the city of Taif blooms pink and red. First, the rose bushes blossom in the valley of Wadi Mahram, then higher up in Al Hada, and finally at 2,500 meters in Al Shafa, the mountains to the south of the city.
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Salman pours weighed roses into a copper vat ahead of the distillation process at the family's farm.
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Salman, a member of the Bin Salman family, pushes weighed roses into a copper vat ahead of the distillation process at the family's farm in the Saudi city of Taif.
Image Credit: AFP
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A syringe of distilled Taif rose oil.
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Saudi Arabia is said to produce some of the world’s most expensive rose oil, which is used to make signature perfumes by brands such as Givenchy, Chanel, and Jimmy Choo.
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A bottle of Taif rose oil distilled at the family's farm in the Saudi city of Taif.
Image Credit: AFP