Zhangjiajie National Forest Park – Pandora on Earth
The floating ‘Hallelujah Mountains’ you saw on the movie Avatar has been inspired by a real place on Earth – China.
The
Zhangjiajie National Forest Park in the Chinese province of Hunan
features gigantic pillar like rocks, the kind you see throughout the
movie. Only difference is they aren’t floating. 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 are 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.
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.
One of the park's
quartz-sandstone pillars, the 3,544-foot Southern Sky Column, had been
officially renamed "Avatar Hallelujah Mountain" in honor of the
eponymous film in January 2010.
