THE scenic Zhangjiajie National Forest Park in Hunan province has gained greater stardom following the premiere of 2009 science-fiction movie, Avatar, which was filmed at the natural attraction known for its spectacular columnar land formations.
Yang Qian, operation manager of Zhangjiajie Neosalle International Travel Service told TTG Asia e-Daily: “Avatar was so popular that it made our mountains famous worldwide. People who saw the movie wondered where that beautiful place was located.”
Yang said the number of tour groups to the national park had tripled since the movie hit the screens, and added that tourists could easily spend up to three days there should they desire a complete tour of the destination.
According to the Zhangjiajie Tourism website, there are now 854 hotels in the park and 53 of them are star-rated.
Two- to three-day photography tours are offered to avid Avatar fans who want to be photographed at specific film locations, Yang said.
Riding on the global popularity, the park renamed one of its mountain peaks – the South Pillar of the Heaven that was said to have inspired the movie’s director James Cameron – to Hallelujah Mountain in 2010, after the floating rocks in the film. The peak stands 1,074m above sea level.
According to Yang, travellers from South Korea and Thailand formed the bulk of park visitors, although there is a growing number from Europe.
The park will likely attract more attention with its glass bridge in the Great Gorge scenic park within Zhangjiajie, slated for completion by the end of 2014. Joining the summits of two mountains, the glass bridge will rise 400m from the ground and span 365m long and 3.2m wide. It will be the world’s tallest and longest of its kind.
Built with a special glass floor, visitors will not only be able to enjoy an unobstructed view of the Great Gorge, they will also be able to literally walk in the air.
