張家界 Zhiangziajie (Pandora – The world of Avatar) Photo Blog

If you’ve watched/seen James Cameron’s 2009 Avatar Movie then these photos would be familiar.

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avatar2photos from Google

This place is actually Pandora – The world of Avatar. For Pandora’s “floating mountains”, production and set designers actually got their main inspiration from the mountains that can be found in Zhiangziajie (張家界), China.

I was able to tag along with my dad and his friends when we went here last 2016. I “can’t” share with you the “how to” of this place since we joined a tour group when we went here. We actually first flew to Shanghai from Manila then we rode another plane (local plane) from Shanghai to Zhiangziajie.

I don’t encourage making a “DIY” trip to Zhiangziajie since it’s actually a province in China. Even if you’re fluent in Mandarin, I think it’s quite hard to go and reach certain places especially if you’ll be taking public transportations there.

If you’re curious on how the place looks like, here are some (unedited) photos!

During our trip, we went to 3 mountains – Tianmenshan (天門山) , Avatar Mountain (武陵源) , Tienzi (天子).

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we were able to see Cherry Blossoms! These Cherry Blossoms are quite pale compared to the ones in Japan

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see that brown structure up the mountain? WE DECIDED TO HIKE GOING THERE
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can’t believe we survived that hike

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glass edge

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I was obviously having too much fun on the glass edge!!!
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remember the brown structure I mentioned earlier? I/WE FINALLY MADE IT
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my crew ❤️️

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fell in love with their local outfit

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photo with my creww
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they placed this by the entrance to show locals/tourists that this is definitely the place where they got the inspiration for Pandora

all photos taken using an iPhone

 

WATCHING A LOCAL SHOW:

We decided to watch a local show since it was recommended by our local tour guide. They used the Tianmen mountains as the background for the show.

Don’t worry there are english translations placed at the stage area so you’d totally understand what they are saying/singing.

I would recommend this show if you love watching plays!! I ACTUALLY CRIED SO MUCH.
This local show’s name is Tianmen Fox Fairy Show, just in case you’d also want to watch.

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those in blue costume actually used their silver accessories to make sounds!

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it’s actually a love story between a Woodman and a Fox Fairy

all photos taken using an iPhone

My photos cannot give justice to how magnificent the place is but hopefully you’re now encouraged to visit China??

💚, R

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