Avatar’s Hallelujah Mountain in real life

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Hallelujah Mountain in real life

We have already learned China’s local level tourism authorities are capable of coming up with the wackiest ideas when it comes to marketing.

To their credit, the tourism bureau of Zhangjiajie in Hunan just announced earlier today that the reputed “South Pillar of the Heaven” (南天一柱) aka “Pillar between Heaven and Earth” (乾坤柱), a 150 meter tall rock which is supposedly the archetype of sci-fi movie Avatar‘s fantasy world, was rechristened to “Hallelujah Mountain” - a tribute to Cameron’s sensational blockbuster as well as a smart ploy that has the potential of raking in tens of millions of foreign tourist dollars.

According to Song Zhiguang, the director of the scenic area management committee:

“… the renaming is not xenophilia. We are simply trying to be accommodating to people’s wishes. Zhangjiajie is the world’s natural heritage. The gorgeous beauty of it doesn’t only belong to the Chinese people, it also belongs to the whole world. By changing the name from South Pillar of the Heaven to Hallelujah Mountain, we are sending a message: Zhangjiejie doesn’t only belong to the world, it embraces the world!”

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