The global blockbuster Avatar is so successful that local residents in central China want their mountains to be named after the floating rocks in the movie, "the Hallelujah Mountains."
Hundreds of locals in ethnic Tujia costumes launched an "official ceremony" Monday to rename the Qiankunzhu mountains, prototypes for "the Hallelujah Mountains."
The peak is 1,074 meters above the sea level and one of more than 3,000 mountains in the Yuanjiajie Scenic Spot, the core area of the World Natural Heritage Wulingyuan Scenic Zone in Zhangjiajie City, Hunan Province.
Hollywood photographers spent four days shooting there in 2008. His pictures became the prototypes for many elements in "Avatar", said Song Zhiguang, director of the Yuanjiajie Scenic Spot Administration.
The pictures inspired the movie director James Cameron to feature the floating "Mt. Hallelujah" in the world of "Pandora," he said.
About 25 minutes of "Avatar" were shot in Zhangjiajie, and the "Qiankunzhu mountains" appeared for several times, said Li Ping, an official with the Zhangjiajie branch of the China International Travel Service.
"Pandora is far but Zhangjiajie is near," Song said. "Tourists are welcome to the 'Miracle tour to Avatar's floating mountains,'" he said.
"Avatar" has sold 1.841 billion U.S. dollars worth of tickets worldwide, making it the biggest international release of all time. It has also become China's most popular movie ever by making around 80 million U.S. dollars here.
The renaming has sparked controversy among the Chinese internet population. Some believed it would attract more tourists to the spot, while others regarded it odd to brand a famous Chinese mountain with a foreign name.
"What attracts movie fans to come is the prototype that has long existed, not a scenic spot that is renamed to pander for a hot movie," a netizen posted in the sina.com.