EXPLORE
TASTE
REFLECT
CREATE
with grizzled desert tribesmen. Not for nothing is Ouarzazate
nicknamed “The Door of the Desert.”
MARRAKECH
CHINA LAND OF MYTH AND MAGIC
Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The country covers 9.6
million square kilometres
Rivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
More than 50,000 exceed
100 square kilometres
Film . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Fastest growing movie
market, annual box office
receipts of US$5 billion
Neighbours . . . . . . . . . . .
The vast expanse of
China borders no less
than 14 countries
B A N YA N T R E E
YA N G S H U O
Think of this as the heart
of silver screen China.
Yangshuo's mesmerising
mountain peaks inspired
not just producers of
Avatar, but also Star
Wars: Episode III. You
can experience all this
out of this world beauty
at one of Banyan Tree's
most bracing properties,
surrounded by emerald
rice fields and rivers that
twist like ribbons.
BOX OFFICE
MOVIE MOMENTS
Putting together a budget
for a movie must be an
arduous task. Costing
US$341.8 million, Pirates
of the Caribbean: World’s
End, launched in 2007,
is said to be the most
expensive film produced
to date. Interestingly, the
1963 classic Cleopatra
starring Elizabeth Taylor
and Richard Burton
comes in at number two;
a blockbuster — which at
today's prices would have
cost US$339.5 million.
Film buffs keen to recreate
the glamour of the big
screen can find out how
to visit real (and fictional)
locations from favourite
movies. Whether it’s the
dusty intrigues of Morocco
featured in Gladiator or
the backdrop for the sci-fi
marvels of the latest Star
Wars movie in the United
Arab Emirates, sites like
www.movie-locations.com
list where movies were
made, to help you plan the
ultimate fan trip.
U N D E R T H E B A N YA N T R E E
China’s Sci-Fi Beauty From the dusty deserts of North Africa,
we hop on a plane to Asia. Or perhaps, an interstellar warship.
After all, the breathtaking mountains of Zhangjiajie, in China’s
Hunan Province seem to have an otherworldly quality. Its
mist-shrouded, tree-topped finger-like rocks are so dramatic
they became the real stars of the CGI-drowned Avatar.
While they don’t feature directly, the “floating mountains”
inspired the film’s production designers when creating scenes
set on Pandora, the lush and fictional moon. If anything,
this natural hotspot overshadows anything director James
Cameron could create. Here, 3,100 sandstone pillars stretch
up to 800 metres into the sky. They peek out of lush green
forests, sparkling lakes, waterfalls and yawning caves.
It’s not surprising that Zhangjiajie was also designated a
UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992 — a fact that must have
pleased the animals that scamper in this wonderland. If you
visit, don’t just crane your neck up towards the rocks. You
won’t spy the nine-foot-tall blue aliens that fill Avatar. Instead
keep your eyes peeled for thousands of rhesus and macaque
monkeys. According to Zhangjiajie’s official site, they playfully
jump from tree to tree, just waiting for a tourist with whom
to make friends. “Unafraid of humans, they are like naughty
children but will befriend the tourist who offers them candy
or chocolates” — don’t actually give them any food though.
Less mischievous but far more other-wordly are the
Chinese giant salamanders that can be found lounging in
the park’s cool streams. “They are also known as ‘baby fish’,”
notes the site, “because they sound like a crying baby, and
have four legs similar to baby’s arms.”
It’s not just animal life that abounds here, though. The
fauna is as breathtaking as Avatar’s alien, mystical ‘Tree
of Souls’. No less magical is Zhangjiajie’s Dove Tree or
Handkerchief Tree. At over 2.5 million years old, it has been
dubbed by breathless scientists as a “living fossil”. Visit in
May and the reddish flowers will flutter in the wind like
doves or wispy handkerchiefs, earning this remarkable tree
its name. Meanwhile, the Chinese chestnut trees here are a
feast for both the eyes and stomach. Each specimen can drop
25 kilograms of sweet, meaty nuts each year — just be careful
when cracking open the barbed capsules to find your prize.
01/06
2016
Following Julia’s Footsteps If
there’s one film that has turned
masses of armchair travellers into
real-life explorers, it’s Eat Pray Love.
Based on Elizabeth Gilbert’s hit
memoir, the 2010 movie exploded
in popularity thanks to its stars:
Julia Roberts and Javier Bardem.
But if anything, these A-listers were
overshadowed by the true screen
beauties: the picturesque vistas of
Italy, India and Indonesia, where
Gilbert goes to soak up local culture
and forget her troubles. Echoing
the film’s massive success, several
tours were born, ferrying travellers
along the same gorgeous sights
highlighted in the movie.
PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES; EVERETT/TPG/CLICK PHOTOS (CLEOPATRA, THE GLADIATOR)
BEIJING
Movie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Avatar
China's natural beauty
inspired scenes for
one of history's biggest
blockbusters, Avatar (inset)
P R E V I O U S PA G E :
The dunes of the
desert have provided a
scintillating cinematic
backdrop for years.
Date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2009
Watch this movie if . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
You want to travel galactically
A wanderlust quote . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
"Everything is backwards now, like out
there is the true world, and in here is the
dream."
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