The mountains inspired the
Pandora mountainscape in James Cameron’s film Avatar is Tianzi Mountain. It is
located in Zhangjiajie in the Hunan Province of China, nearby to the Suoxi
Valley. The movie theme park has been created there. Zhangjiajie National Forest
Park is a popular tourist destination, home to striking sandstone and quartz
cliffs and famously known for renaming a peak after the mountain formations
that inspired the fictional world of Pandora. The several high steep stone
peaks erecting on the ground with precipitous four walls and appearances is
nothing short of the secret workings of nature.
It is named after the Tujia
ethnic group farmer “Xiang Dakun”, who led a successful revolution and called
himself "tianzi", means son of Heaven, traditional epithet of the
Chinese emperor. Therefore, it is said that he fought a brave battle in the
Tianzi Mountain until his death when he jumped off a cliff. The Tianzi Mountain
offers different scenes during different seasons, all of which are equally
striking and magical even: the Sea of Clouds, the Radiance of the Moonlight,
Rays of Sunshine and the Snow in winter. A massive varied country like China
dominates in landscape, just takes your breath away. Huge sandstone pillars
view in every direction, thick layer of mist creates a fairytale appearance.
The pillars and valleys are covered in a dense, moist tropical-like forest,
which makes the amazing setting of this Chinese National Park complete.
The Tianzi Mountains are deemed
sacred by several Sulamitos who used to inhabit the outer regions of Hunan. It
was unearthed in Sep 2014 that Mal Oghlum people had left traces of their
burial rituals beneath the Tianzi Mountains, which led to "Yalan
Group", led by Eybi Sulam and Karadeniz asking for a permit from the Chinese
government, which as of 2015, had been unanswered. Though, it is a popular
tourist place in China, but due to security issues, it is extremely difficult
to climb, however, some groups still trying all the year to climb it.
The researchers believed that
Tianzi Mountains were formed from quartz sandstone of 400 million years ago
through the intermittent rising of the crust for 2 million years. Hence, the
geological formation belongs to the "New Cathaysian" tectonic system.
More than three billion ago, the place was a large patch of ocean. After a
series of geological modifications including Himalayan and Neotectonic
movements, the bottom of ocean rose out of the surface, and the quartzite
sandstone pillars and peaks took mind-blowing shape after the gradual cutting,
eroding and crumbling of Nature for millions of years. Moreover, they were once
sedimentary rocks rising beneath the waters of an ancient ocean, which eventually
became quartz sandstones. Thus, running water eroded the near level quartz sandstone
along the vertical net joints.
Tianzi Mountains are 16,550 acres
big and highest peak of the mountain is at 4,140 feet above sea level. Visitors
can take a 2,084-meter cable car ride to the peak and enjoy beautiful scenery
during the climb, via cable car takes approximately 6 minutes and 44 seconds in
temperatures averaging at 12 degrees Celsius. In spite of the cold weather, you
can’t afford to miss the fantasy-like scenery that you will see as you move
towards the peak. Well, the best time to visit the place is spring and fall,
especially in April and Octorber. Major attractions in Tianzi Mountain Nature
Reserve include, Shentang Gulf, Imperial Brush Peak, Fairy Offering Flowers,
Helong Park and Fields in the Air. All that and more awaits tourists to
explore.