The real "Avatar Mountains" - Virtual tour & 360 video (Zhangjiajie Park, China)

Zhangjiajie national park ( click on the picture )

The quartz-sandstone pillars of Zhangjiajie – pronouncedjaang-jyaa-jie– were the inspiration for the floating peaks of the Hallelujah Mountains in James Cameron’s Avatar film. Their unique shape is caused by physical erosion from water, ice and the roots of trees and foliage. Take flight around these towering natural columns – some stretching up over 1,000 metres – in an interactive video tour exploring the site (video below), and zoom into high definition 360 degree shots from the sky (click on the pic above).

The park is also home to an ancient temple from 870AD, the cliffside Bailong glass elevator, and the world’s highest and longest glass bridge, strung between mountains 300 metres up, and a busy tourist spot – though seen in these 360-degree images with fewer crowds (click on the pic below)

Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge ( click on the picture )