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Fans of Avatar, the highest grossing film of all time, will soon get a chance to know Pandora a lot better at a new museum in the US West Coast city of Seattle. The exhibition is scheduled to open on June 4.

The show will include elaborate displays of artifacts and props such as the actual AMP (Armored Mobility Platform) suit used in the combat scenes, soldiers' uniforms, and original, hand-made models of the Na'vi characters and their wardrobe.

Visitors will also get to step into Jim Cameron's role as director and experience the process of creating a film like Avatar through a series of interactive installations.

High tech help on the pistes

Snow-depth data gained by satellite is helping experts in the South Tyrolean resort of Fieberbrunn prepare the pistes for winter holidaymakers. During the summer months the area was measured out to create an accurate topographical map of all the local ski runs. In the winter, the data is used by tracked survey vehicles to measure the exact depth of snow present before snow-making machinery is set into action. The town has an arsenal of 200 snow cannon. According to estimates, a cubic metre of artificial snow costs around three euros (four dollars) to generate. (www.bergbahnen-fieberbrunn.at)

Nature lovers are being offered a new attraction in Namibia, a viewing platform on the Fish River Canyon. Display boards provide information about the world's second-largest canyon as well as on the local plant and animal life. The Namibia Tourism Board notes that the canyon is more than 160-kilometers-long, up to 27-kilometers-wide and 550-meters-deep. Some 60,000 visitors travel to the canyon annually, making it one of the biggest tourism attractions in the south-western African country. (www.namibia-tourism.com)

Double-tap card for tourists

Singapore on Wednesday launched a new tap-and-go card that can be used on public transport as well as a tourist site entry ticket.

The Go Singapore Pass, available at two tourist service centers and online, allows tourists to travel more easily and conveniently. The cards are now available in four choices, each offering different bundles of attractions and a stored value of five Singapore dollars for tourists to travel on public buses and trains.

Record number of South Koreans travel abroad

South Korean carriers have been fully booked by travelers going abroad during the coming Lunar New Year holiday, airport authorities said. Millions customarily travel to home towns during the traditional holiday, which falls this year on February 2-4, or travel overseas.

Between Tuesday and Sunday, more than half a million passengers are expected to travel abroad, the highest number in seven years.

International flights bound for Southeast Asian countries, southern China and Oceania were fully booked throughout next week.

More people are traveling this year as the holiday will be followed by a weekend. A prolonged cold spell and the nation's worst outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease were also encouraging overseas travel.

Airline news and deals:

Second kill for 9-yuan flight tickets: Tianjin Airlines offers discount tickets at 9 and 99 yuan on its website from Jan 26 to Feb 28. Customers can win cheap tickets by visiting www.tianjin-air.com at between 12:30 and 13:00.

New flight route opened: Alitalia will open a new flight route between Beijing and Rome at the beginning of this Summer, which will be carried by Airbus 330 and four flights every week.

AirAsia sets up its third airbase: AirAsia sets up its third airbase in Chiang Mai after two in Bangkok and Phuket. As Asia's largest low-cost airline, AirAsia develops its business around Thailand and plans to extend its routes to other Asian cities like China.

China Daily - Associated Press - Deutsche Press Agentur

(China Daily 01/30/2011 page16)