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Avatar-inspired China renames its mountain

Tuesday, February 09, 2010
ZHANGJIAJIE: The huge box-office success of "Avatar", which last week beat "Titanic" to become the biggest movie of all time in the United States and Canada, is bringing inspiration to a Chinese province.

A craggy peak in a scenic part of southern China's Hunan province has been renamed after floating mountains featured in the Hollywood blockbuster, with hopes to cash in on the movie's massive success.

The "Southern Sky Column" in Zhangjiajie in southern Hunan province formally had its named changed to "Hallelujah Mountain" in a ceremony in late January, according to the Zhangjiajie government's official website.

The local government said the floating "Hallelujah Mountains" in the movie were inspired by the "Southern Sky Column," as a Hollywood photographer spent time shooting there in 2008.

"Avatar" has also proved a success in China, recently becoming the country's most popular film ever.

Zhangjiajie hopes to capitalise on that fame, local tourism bureau official Li Ping said.

"We want to generate profit with promotion and advertising through this blockbuster," Li Ping said.

Tourists can now join a "Magical tour to Avatar-Pandora" or a "Miracle tour to Avatar's floating mountain," the Zhangjiajie branch of China International Travel Service Corp said on its website.

"Pandora is far but Zhangjiajie is near," the municipal government added on its website. "Welcome to Zhangjiajie to see 'Avatar's Hallelujah Mountains' and discover the real world of Pandora."

The market seems to be there, with tourist from across the vast country already flocking to the site.

"I have just watched the 3D movie Avatar couple of days ago. And I heard that the picture on the film's poster is this mountain so I really wanted to come here and have a look. I came a long way from northern China especially for that. Although it is pretty cold here, I am still very excited to see this mountain. It is out of my expectations," a tourist from northeastern China said.

However, the move to rename the mountain has not pleased everyone.

News reports following the renaming ceremony created an online backlash.

A local news agency said Chinese citizens "accused officials of being money-oriented and blindly worshipping Western culture" in trying to rename the peak.

In a survey on popular portal of Sina, 54,619 voted to condemn the renaming with just 5,897 supporting it, the news agency report added.

The local government moved to assure it had not changed the name completely, also saying the new name, which was to be used alongside the previous name, was not brought upon due to the success of "Avatar".

The "Southern Sky Column" rises 1,074 meters above the sea level and is one of as many as more than 3,000 mountains in the World Natural Heritage Wulingyuan Scenic Zone in Zhangjiajie.
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