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03. 08. 12. - 13:00

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03. 08. 12. - 13:00

Avatar War In China

Kathryn Quinn

A Chinese national park boss battling it out with a rival park boss over whose scenery was the inspiration for the spectacular landscapes in the film Avatar has offered a 10,000 GBP reward for anyone who can offer a snap of scenery with a better claim to the title than their own.

Managers at Wulingyuan in Hunan Province, China, says that their spectacular, 3,000 foot tall quartzite sandstone pillars were clearly the inspiration for the "Hallelujah Mountains" that form part of the landscape on Pandora, the densely forested habitable moon that is the setting for the film.

And park spokesman Jian Su said: "Give us a pic of a place with a better claim and we will pay up the money the same day, but we are not worried because we are the real inspiration for the film."

But rivals at Huangshan, the Yellow Mountain Range in southern Anhui province in eastern China were able to strengthen their claim when film director James Cameron said he had based the mountains on this site. The area also has peculiarly shaped granite peaks and is a frequent subject of traditional Chinese paintings and literature.

Staff at the Zhangjiajie tourism office however pointed to the fact that producers from the film makers had been to Wulingyuan to take pictures and study the mountains in advance of the film.

To further cement their claim, despite opposition the Zhangjiajie tourism bosses changed the name of the Qiankun Pillar into Hallelujah Mountain and started to cash in with Avatar souvenirs, and later naming other attractions after parts of the film.

As to what the visitors think - both parks have said they have seen an 80 per cent rise in visitor numbers since the film was screened.

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