Zhangjiajie Mountain Renamed after Avatar

The global blockbuster Avatar is so successful that local residents in central China want their mountains to be named after the floating rocks in the movie, "the Hallelujah Mountains." Hundreds of locals in ethnic Tujia costumes launched an "official ceremony" on January 25,2010,to rename the Qiankunzhu (Southern Sky Column), prototypes for "the Hallelujah Mountains."

The peak is 1,074 meters (3,524 ft) above the sea level and one of more than 3,000 mountains in the Yuanjiajie Scenic Spot, the core area of the World Natural Heritage Wulingyuan Scenic Zone in Zhangjiajie City, Hunan Province. Please check out Tours to Zhangjiajie to see the mountain in person.

Hollywood photographer Eric Hanson spent four days shooting there in 2008. His pictures became the prototypes for many elements in "Avatar", said Song Zhiguang, director of the Yuanjiajie Scenic Spot Administration.