Peaks' name change 'not due to Avatar'

In response to the increasing criticism on the renaming of its mountain peaks, tourism bureau officials in Zhangjiajie, Hunan province, said the name was not changed due to the movie Avatar.

"The civil spontaneous action to rename the peak just shows that Zhangjiajie is protecting its own authority and special value as a World Natural Heritage," Ding Yunyong, director of the city's tourism bureau, said yesterday.

Officials at the Yuanjiajie part of the Wulingyuan Scenic Area in Zhangjiajie on Monday changed the name of the "South Pillar of the Heaven" (also called the "Pillar between Heaven and Earth") to "Hallelujah Mountain".