F REIGN TRADE - 中国国际贸易促进委员会

Zhangjiajie National Forest Park-AvatarThe Zhangjiajie National Forest Park is located inZhangjiajie City in northern Hunan Province in the People’sRepublic of China, covering an area of 4,810 hectares. It wasrecognized as the country’s first national forest park in 1982,and listed as a UNESCO Global Geopark in 2004.The most notable geographic features of the park arethe pillar-like formations that are seen throughout the park.One of the park’s quartz-sandstone pillars, the 3,544-footSouthern Sky Column, had been officially renamed “AvatarHallelujah Mountain” in honor of the eponymous film inJanuary 2010. According to park officials, photographs fromZhangjiajie inspired the floating Hallelujah Mountains seenin the film. The film’s director and production designers saidthat they drew inspiration for the floating rocks from mountainsfrom around the world, including those in the Hunanprovince.The sandstone pillars are the result of many years oferosion. The weather is moist year round, and as a result, thefoliage is very dense. Much of the erosion which forms thesepillars is the result of expanding ice in the winter and theplants which grow on them. These formations are a distincthallmark of Chinese landscape, and can be found in manyancient Chinese paintings.Phoenix Ancient Town-Kong Fu PandaPhoenix is regarded in the Chinese culture as a mythicalbird of good omen and longevity that is consumed by fireto be re-born again from the flames. Phoenix Ancient Townis so called as legend has it that two of these fabulous birdsflew over it and found the town so beautiful that they hoveredthere, reluctant to leave.The town is situated on the western boundary of HunanProvince in an area of outstanding natural beauty wheremountains, water and blue skies prevail. Upon entering thetown the visitor will be impressed by its air of mystery, eleganceand primitive simplicity. The bridges over the waterand unique houses built on stilts display a harmony that isso often portrayed in traditional Chinese paintings. This isparticularly true when mist pervades the scene in the earlymorning or after rain. It soon becomes apparent that theclaim to being one of the two most beautiful towns in thewhole of China is more than justified; the other town isChang Ting in Fujian Province.Phoenix Ancient Town is a wonderful example ofwhat villages were like prior to the onset of modernization.Here dozens of alleys paved with flagstones run between thehouses, each showing wear caused by the feet of generationsof local people who have used them when going about theirdaily business. For the visitor, these alleys are the way to seethe typical high gabled wooden houses built on stilts alongthe banks of the Tuo Jiang River at close quarters.In many ways, life has not changed here for centuriesand this is typified by the tough, hard working yet simpleheartedpeople. Phoenix Ancient Town offers visitors fromboth home and abroad a view of a quite different China fromanything experienced in the modern cities and large conurbationsthat are more widely known.89