A craggy peak in a scenic part of southern China has been renamed after floating mountains featured in Hollywood blockbuster “Avatar”, with the province hoping to cash in on the movie's massive success. The “Southern Sky Column” in Zhangjiajie in southern Hunan province formally had its name changed to “Avatar Hallelujah Mountain” in a ceremony Monday, according to the Zhangjiajie government's official website (www.zjj.gov.cn). The 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. “Many pictures he took then become prototypes for various elements in the “Avatar” movie, including the ‘Hallelujah Mountains',” the website said. “Avatar” has so far made around $80 million in China, and has become the country's most popular film ever. 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. (www.citszjj.com) “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.”
