A famous Chinese sightseeing spot Zhangjiajie, where Hollywood blockbuster Avatar was shot, which unveiled what it claimed to be "the world's first scenic spot metaverse research and development (R&D) center" with aspirations to build the world of Avatar, has generated huge discussions in recent days on social media platforms about whether such an establishment is merely capitalizing on the hype and whether tourism authorities have the ability to actually make breakthroughs in one of the most cutting-edge areas of the tech sector.


Industry insiders said that the move by the tourist spot is very "bold" but still "within reasonable reach," as gaming, cultural and entertainment are poised to be the sectors which see the earliest metaverse applications - although talks of building a virtual social network, which leading tech companies like Facebook have been mulling out efforts, are still in their infancy.

Analysts also suggested that Zhangjiajie authorities work with tech teams and companies to speed up transforming their ideas into a reality. The controversy following the news also mirrors the buzz surrounding the concept of metaverse, where capital excitement has been overblown but all players are just in the early stage of building basic infrastructures to make a parallel virtual world a reality.

"We are not hyping concepts, but seriously want to do this," head of the digital transformation team of national forest park of Zhangjiajie, who declined to give his name, told the Global Times on Friday, in response to public doubts. "We have always wanted to make Zhangjiajie a scene where people could experience the Avatar film. It may not be possible at the current stage, but it can be done in the future."

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