Zhangjiajie in Hunan Province marketed as a breath of fresh air

• Source: Global Times
• [08:46 July 27 2010]
• Comments

Dressed in Avatar costume, a staff member from the Hunan Pavilion jumps Monday in celebration of Hunan Week inside the Expo Park. Photo: Yang Lei

By Tang Zhao

With locals dressed in traditional costume Monday, Zhangjiajie took advantage of a special day dedicated to the northwestern city in Hunan Province at the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai, promoting the place as a breath of fresh air.

Zhangjiajie Mayor Zhao Xiaoming gifted glass bottles filled with mountain air to selected pavilion representatives, kicking off a new marketing campaign that follows a controversial decision in January to change the name of a scenic spot in the city to Hallelujah Mountain - paying homage to claims that it served as the inspiration for the backdrop used in the 2009 box office hit Avatar, and to further popularize the attraction to tourists.

Zhao said that his city boasts forests that cover 68 percent of its lands, far more than that of the province, where forests make up 56 percent, and that of the entire country, which comprises 20 percent.