They put this up for the film.
Do you know
where the inspiration for the planet in Avatar came from with the floating
mountains and tall pillars? The inspiration came from a national park in the
Hunan province in China, Zhangjiajie.
That day I was the only Caucasian that I saw there. People wanted to have their picture taken with me because I really stood out. They were all very friendly.
In 1982 it was recognized as China's first national forest park with an area of 4,810 ha (11,900 acres). Zhangjiajie National Forest Park is part of a much larger 397.5 km2 (153.5 sq mi) Wulingyuan Scenic Area. In 1992, Wulingyuan was officially recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was then approved by the Ministry of Land and Resources as Zhangjiajie Sandstone Peak Forest National Geopark (3,600 km2 (1,400 sq mi)) in 2001. In 2004, Zhangjiajie Geopark was listed as a UNESCO Global Geopark.
This formation is called Fairie Presenting Flowers
This is one of the formations used in the film
The most notable geographic features of the park are the pillar-like formations that are seen throughout the park. They are the result of many years of erosion. The weather is moist year round, and as a result, the foliage is very dense. Much of the erosion which forms these pillars is the result of expanding ice in the winter and the plants which grow on them. These formations are a distinct hallmark of Chinese landscape, and can be found in many ancient Chinese paintings.
One of the park's quartz-sandstone pillars, the 3,544-foot (1,080 m) Southern Sky Column, had been officially renamed "Avatar Hallelujah Mountain" in honor of the film in January 2010. According to park officials, photographs from Zhangjiajie inspired the floating Hallelujah Mountains seen in the film. The film's director and production designers said that they drew inspiration for the floating rocks from mountains from around the world, including those in the Hunan province.
This is a fossil of a sea tortoise
This the elevator that took us back down. We had ridden a tram on the way up. The elevator is bolted to the side of the cliff.
In 2011, I made the trek to Zhangjiajie by flying into Hong Kong, taking the ferry to Zhuhai, a train to Guangzhou, a bullet train (speeds of almost 200 mph) to Changsha and another train to Zhangjiajie. On the trains you’ll see beautiful scenery, interesting people and a live infomercial or two (the trains will make up another blog). Once you get there the city of Zhangjiajie is very small, clean and remote. I stayed at a beautiful Accor Hotel with a European staff that was very friendly. There were 3 restaurants (western, Chinese, coffee shop), a nice pool and the rooms were spacious and modern. The taxi ride to the main gate of the park was 5 minutes.
One note: Zhangjiajie is a national park and is very rugged so if you are unable to hike, are afraid of heights, explore caves or river raft maybe this isn’t the trip for you.
If this is what you are looking for then I would highly
recommend it. There are many sections of the park. I rode a gondola to the top
and took free buses from section to section. At the end I rode a glass elevator
bolted to the side of a cliff that took us to the floor. Also, there are lakes,
rivers and caves to explore. I would have to say it was one of the most
beautiful places I have been to. For more information here are a few links.
The Red Bull team in Zhangjiajie with a must see video:
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