The theme song “I See You” has been heard worldwide, but in China some fans don’t “see” the way that blockbuster director of Avatar, James Cameron, “see” on the issue of where Hallelujah Mountains, the Floating Mountains of Pandora, is originated.
The Floating Mountains of Pandora
Zhangjiajie in China
James Cameron was in Beijing promoting Avatar on December 23rd. When answered how he got the inspiration of Avatar, he somehow mentioned the startling Hallelujah Mountains were originated from Huangshan (黃山）Mountain, a notable mountain in China.
This is disputed by a netizen surnamed Deng, who works for another tourist city Zhangjiajie （張家界） in Hunan province. Deng uploaded some pictures to evidence his point that the mountains in Zhangjiajie should be where the idea of Hallelujah Mountains came from.
How this mistake happened? There were guesses on the Internet: “Maybe he just doesn’t know much about China” a netizen said, “but he should apologize for his mistake”.
One of netizen tipped this should be a great opportunity for Zhangjiajie’s publicity and that the tourism body of Zhangjiajie should make the most of this movie.
Deng explained his intention was to unveil the truth. Since he has been working in Zhangjiajie, he just hoped audience hadn’t been misled.
Summarized from Ifeng and Eastday
Our other article here has more pictures on Zhangjiajie and Huangshan.
For reader who haven’t watched Avatar, you can see the Hallelujah Mountains from the following clip:
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[...] himself, it should be noted, reportedly said the famed Huangshan range in Anhui province was the source of the film’s scenery, leading to some debate among Chinese [...]
Deng is obviously promoting self interest. The problem with netizens is they have no evidence other than conjecture and their own opinion.
what is more likely, the director of the film saying its Huang mountain or someone totally not involved in the decision process with no access or knowledge from anyone who was actually involved in the decision process.
its obvious Deng is blowing his hometown’s horn for commercial reasons
Tom, you have a point here. At the same time, it could also be mixing up on Cameron end.
Just looking at the picture, I do feel the floating mountain of pandora resembles Zhangjiajie more than Huang Shan.