Avatar, directed by James Cameron, has so far sold $1.841 billion worth of tickets worldwide, making it the biggest international release of all time. Floating Hallelujah Mountains featured in Hollywood blockbuster Avatar” have the prototypes in Zhangjiajie.
As a Hollywood photographer spent time shooting there in 2008.‘Avatar Makes Its Mark on China’s Zhangjiajie, Zhangjiajie has renamed one of the spires called Southern Sky Column to Avatar Hallelujah Mountain, The name change seemed to be an effort to stir up the interest of world wide tourists, who have helped “Avatar” sell more than $200 million in tickets, breaking box office records.Travel companies have already begun .offering tours that emphasize the regions resemblance to Pandora, the lush alien moon depicted in the film.
The quartz sandstone pillar is strikingly similar to the kind seen in the Hallelujah Mountains in Avatar, which became the first film to earn more than $100 million in China.
However, the renaming has drawn intense criticism online.
The South Pillar of the Heaven, about 300 meters above the ground at a height of 1,074 meters above sea level, is a famous scenic attraction.
During a recent visit to China, the film's director, James Cameron, said the floating peaks were modeled after Huangshan Mountain in Anhui Province.
However, Deng Daoli, a local resident who has worked at the Wulingyuan national park for years, pointed out the Huangshan mountains are actually granite, and that the photographs seemed to show that the model for the Avatar mountains was the Zhangjiajie .pillars.
Tourists can now join a Magical tour to Avatar-Pandora or a Miracle tour to Avatars floating mountain”
Welcome to Zhangjiajie to see Avatars Hallelujah Mountains and discover the real world of Pandora.