“Alianya”: Chinese Shanzhai Version Of “Avatar”

This is a photostory posted on the Tianya BBS that “borrows inspiration” from the recent 3D CGI blockbuster “Avatar” to tell a similar story of  “man vs nature”. It appears to be an advertisement for tourists to come to Xishuangbanna, China as this certain locale is touted to have served as an actual inspiration for Avatar as well as having been the one place in China that looks the most similar to Pandora, the fictional moon paradise where the 10 tall blue-skinned Na’vi live.

This use of the movie Avatar to promote tourism in China is not new.  In fact, the BBC had reported that the Southern Sky Column in Zhangjiajie, Hunan province, had changed its name to the Avatar Hallelujah Mountain as a way to attract tourists (a claim reportably later denied by officials).

While it looks like a movie, the stills are so heavily Photoshopped and art directed that these are not likely to be movie stills.

Netizens are on the whole very supportive of this post, in no short part due to the insinuated nudity shown by the lead actress.

From Tianya:

Me and my friend’s made a shanzhai version of “Avatar”, raising pot lid

I’m always slumming it over at “lian2peng2” shooting the bull, but over here in the “Picture Section” I am a noobie and this will be my first time posting, so go easy on me.

Previously I have always been writing many ghost stories and horror novels. My friends have complained I have become more and more depressing, so I’ve decided to try something new.

Thus inspired, I have tried to write a different story than before. In collaboration with my good friend whom I’ve known since the fourth grade in primary school and a professional photographer, the two of us have put our combined results on the internet.

HOHO, I must tell you, my friend is a beautiful and intelligent single female photographer!

If you think this is at least a little interesting, then please give a hand and ding this post. If on the other hand you find the story and images all very boring, I also welcome bricks.

PS: This was originally a short story, but because of the photographs, it snowballed into more and more. As the pictures are finished we will be releasing them, so it will be within three or four days before that is done. If we’re not careful we will be serialized, and we’re really sorry about that.

First let me nervously raise my pot lid, and post an introductory movie poster we made.

Oh, I should tell you this pictorial story is named “Skygazer Tree – Alianya”

The pictorial story:

The story goes like this:

As a long time white collar office worker and burdened with the stress of living, life has made me more and more detached and numb. All day long I am distracted with running this endless corporate rat race against my competition just to pay for my apartment.

I am so tired, I just want to run away and hide. After one sudden impulsive outburst, I finally handed in my resignation and decided to throw all of my life’s pressure away to one side and take a long deserved vacation.

On the wall of my home is a map, and when I got back home I decided to try something: with my eyes blindfolded with a black cloth, I would randomly throw a dart. Wherever the dart landed would be my destination of my trip.

According to where my dart landed, I have arrived at Sipsong Panna (or Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China).

Having gotten off the plane I immediately noticed the sun beating down on my shoulder, making me feel as though the warmth touched my soul.

Leaving Jinghong International Airport in Yunnan and riding in a car for two hours, I finally arrived at the location as pointed out by the dart, Mengla county in Xishuangbanna Daizu Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province.

A friend told me that the world’s most beautiful rainforests are located here in which the tallest trees poke at the sky. These types of trees, the tallest in China, are called Skygazer trees.

After getting out of the car, however, I didn’t see a trace of the tropical rainforest. In front of me all I can see were flaky rubber trees and withered, dead tall trees.

These are the Skygazer trees, the soul of the rainforest, but all they could do now were to stretch their weak withered branches, somehow doing their best to stretch outwards almost as if they were wordlessly trying to give an account of something. Could it be that these rainforest trees are the same ones from my dream?

As the economic development grew, as could be seen in the great number of rubber trees planted, the area of the rain forest was quickly reduced. But what could I do to help the Skygazer trees survive?

I then approached a Hani village just nearby the rainforest, the local village people enthusiastically told me that I needed to embark on a speed boat to follow the water route; that way I could then reach the forest with the Skygazer trees.

Thus I shook off my wits and went down to the pier to disembark, but as I neared the pier a light flashed before my eyes.

Not far in front of me, a pretty girl suddenly looked back, her eyes tinged with a look of grief. I pitied her, and my heart was unable to avoid the wide waves of emotion she washed over me.

However, she quickly faced forward and sped off. On the pier she boarded a ship and headed for the forest with the Skygazer trees; coincidentally, just the place I too was headed!

I sped up my footsteps to get on the same speed boat she was about to embark on, but by accident I let two local people, a boy and a girl, get in my way. They enthusiastically carried a bamboo cup full of some enchanting spirit and invited me to drink it.

This is the way of the local people; any time a stranger would visit the village of the Hani people, the villagers would invite him to drink a cup of this enchanting spirit. But through their enthusiasm, I lost out on my chance to board the same boat as the girl.

With a touch of concern for this beautiful woman, I hurriedly accepted the cup and drank heavily.

When I put down the elixir cup, the speed boat she was riding in had already left the pier. I boarded another speed boat when by a lucky coincidence the boy and girl who had just served me were also traveling in the same boat as I.

While the speed boat raced over the green waves and ripples of the Nanla River. I looked at the the uniformly kept rubber trees that passed by us on both banks in neat little rows. I nervously contracted my brow, and my heart refused to falter.

Images appeared in my mind of a hatchet come striking down, and then of a “Stargazer” tree lumbering down with a crash, and then of thousands of young rubber tree plant spouts replacing them. Each day a bit of rainforest disappears, but how many people actually know this fact?

I lifted up the camera in my hand and decided to record everything as realistically as possible.

Onwards the boat went. In less than a moment’s notice, the rubber trees all disappeared only to be replaced by a lush, virgin rainforest, one that has been untouched and undeveloped!

In the midst of my euphoria at marveling at the beautiful scenery of what appeared o be an Amazon River of the East, I let out a huge cheer! But then by accident, it appeared to me that the Hani local boy and girl were secretly spying and peeping at me – but maybe I was being too suspicious.

After getting out of the boat I tried looking for the girl, but the Hani people took me to a secluded part of the rainforest.

After having madly passed through an overgrowth of strange plants, I saw row upon row of tall, towering trees, so tall they stuck right into the bottom of clouds!

They told me that these were the fabled Skygazer trees I had been searching for, and all I had to do was to climb to the peak of these trees and then I could turn to heaven and make a wish, one that would prove to be effectual and matchless without comparison.

The local people have tied ropes in the middle of these Skygazer tree to make a makeshift corridor. As the local girl made her way across it seemed like she disappeared in the middle of this treacherous passage.

“Do you dare cross it?” the Hani local boy asked me, sneeringly.

How can I let them look down upon me? However, when I was traversing this sky bridge I could really feel the rope beneath my feet tremble above this lofty perch…

The view below was of a endless sea of green foliage from the crown of trees, while above me the Skygazer trees loomed overhead. I could not help but feel giddy and dizzy.

At that time my heartbeat raced and I wanted so much to turn back, but then the local boy and girl turned back and quietly snickered at me.

I took a deep breath to measure my pace, and then finally in the middle of the Skygazer trees on that corridor, I made one step, and then another…

Only after had I taken a few steps out into the sky corridor did I discover that it was suspended thirty meters above the ground, and the crowns of other trees were under my feet.

From this other point of view, I could really see this previously unseen scenery.

In the wink of an eye, I forgot my fear and dread. I felt as though I had seemingly dissolved into the most majestic, large, natural landscape. In order to look at even more beautiful scenery, I lifted up my legs and without fear marched forward.

When I reached the summit of the Skygazer trees, I couldn’t refrain from letting out a huge cry. Only the bravest souls have the right to reach out and touch heaven.

At the highest point of the sky corridor, underneath the crown of a Skygazer tree, the Hani local girl waited for me with a bunch of sweet flowers in her hands.

According to the rules of the rainforest, once one has traversed the sky corridor one has attained the same level as Skygazer tree hero, and thus receive fresh flowers from a Hani native.

I received the flowers and closed my eyes and took a deep sniff, and an unusually refreshing and sweet smell overwhelmed me.

After smelling this unusually sweet fragrance, I suddenly felt the sky spin and the ground beneath me give out.

The sunlight streamed though the dense layers of Skygazer foliage and scattered all across the top of me; it felt both warm and foreign.

In the middle of a trance, it seemed as though I heard a song drift in from a distant place, a song with the urgent beating of drums.

Afterwards, I fainted beside a Skygazer tree.

Heaven knows how long I was out for, but after what seemed a long time I stirred awake.

I opened my eyes and saw the sky had already turned dark, but through the darkness I saw that the inconceivable had somehow found a way to come true.

As I stood next to a Skygazer tree, I discovered that my hands, my face, in fact my entire skin had unexpectedly turned blue. Also, on my head was a long, thick, black braid that wasn’t there before.

What had happened? I could simply not believe my own eyes.

If it wasn’t me that has gone insane, then it was the world that had gone insane.

I madly looked all around me and saw on a grassy bank near the Skygazer tree lay my cell phone; it’s signal was still strong.

This surely had to be a hallucination. I picked up the cellphone and wanted to verify if I was normal or not by calling someone.

Suddenly a blue arm reached out from behind the Skygazer tree and stole my cell phone.

I raised my eyes and saw now a beautiful girl with skin color completely identical to mine. On her forehead she had a strange tattoo.

She stood beneath the Skygazer tree and directed a small giggle at me.

Who is she? Why does she also have this kind of blue skin?

I felt uncertain about this, but then I saw this mysterious girl open her red lips and softly say a word: “ALIANYA?”

I did not know what she was talking about; all I could do was nod my head.

The mysterious girl’s face immediately brightened up, and then brought together her lips to issue a shrill ear-piercing whistle.

In the blink of an eye, I heard several disturbing rustling noises scattered all around me. As my eyes following my ears, I saw two people who were likewise covered in blue skin, a man and a woman, coming out from behind an enormously tall Skygazer tree and stood right before me.

Who are they? I was completely confused. Why are all the people here blue?

Through all this vagueness, I suddenly had a bizarre feeling. I felt as though I had seen their faces before in those of the Hani local young boy and girl; they were one and the same.

“ALIANYA?” the blue-skinned boy and girl asked using strange sounds to repeat the same three words the mysterious girl had said.

The mysterious girl nodded her head, and the boy eyed with with a strange look. He stood underneath the Skygazer tree, unceasingly changing his expression.

I could see that he was full of suspicion and would not easily trust me.

The young man suddenly pushed aside the mysterious girl and whisked out a crossbow that was hidden behind him. He raised it to a ready position cocked with a feather arrow and aimed it at me.

I only knew too well; all he had to do was to loosen the trigger and an arrow dipped in poison would be shot into my chest.

What does he want? All I am is an average rainforest seeking tourist, why is he so full of hostility towards me?

Underneath the shadow of the Skygazer crown of foliage, I had no possible escape!

In the midst of having these youngsters vehemently aim their crossbows at me, the sky suddenly became full of seeds of pure white fluff that floated in. In front of me they spiraled and lingered upon my person, and little by little they settled upon my shoulders.

Such beautiful seeds! I couldn’t refrain from loudly calling out in wonderment!

As well, the faces of the blue-skinned youngsters exploded with joy. They put down their crossbows and unconsciously the hostility in their faces disappeared.

Once the mysterious girl saw the sky was full of floating bizarre seeds, she unexpectedly turned and madly ran off to the most distant part of the rain forest.

Her shadow disappeared underneath the enormously tall Skygazer trees.

Where did she go? Could it be that she is deliberately trying to escape me? I could not help but let loose a high cry.

I turned one eye towards the blue-skinned youths and they revealed an understanding smile. Even though they have not yet said a word to me, I still felt as though they were encouraging me.

I lifted my head in the direction of the vanished mysterious girl, and once I collected myself, I lifted my my foot in the direction of the Skygazer trees and began to run wildly.

I must find her!

Underneath the Skygazer trees and amidst the brush, I caught another glimpse of the mysterious girl. She stood underneath a wide broad leaf of a rainforest plant and with the corners of her mouth raised, faced me and smiled.

She put a few grotesque wild fruit on a leaf as a makeshift serving tray and offered it to me.

Is this for me to eat? Are these fruits edible?

I remember someone once told me, deep in the old forests of mountains it is not necessary to eat wild fruits. If they are edible, then they can be given to squirrels to eat instead of us.

It seemed as though the girl could see my meaning, and threw an encouraging glance my way.

I gathered my courage and took a fruit and put it to my mouth. It was sour and yet had a sweet flavor to it, and I never thought it could taste so good.

Afterwards, I couldn’t help but reach out into the tree above and pick a fruit myself.

After I had eaten the fruit the pure white fluffy seeds came back. They spiraled around the two of us and landed on our shoulders.

The mysterious girl spread out her two hands widely focused her gaze on a white fluffy seed that landed in the middle of her palm.

What is it? While I was feeling uncertain, a sweet fragrant gust of wind came and blew the white seed off her palm and could be seen spiraling again in the air, slowly drifting down.

My, such exquisite beauty!

After a short while she raised her head and placed her bright red lips next to my ear and lightly whispered: “You really are Alianya”.

Alianya? What is Alianya? I have already heard this word twice.

It seemed as though the mysterious girl could see my bewilderment. She picked up a seed and said to me, “Only a hero with a pure heart and soul would have the tree’s spirit seeds come spiral around them.”

Tree spirit? A hero with a pure soul?

Well, I once had bravely crossed the Skygazer tree corridor which was mounted up in the sky; by doing so that had already proved my bravery. And now these white seeds have drifted down; does this mean I have a pure soul?

The mysterious woman nodded her head, and again spoke softly into my ear, “Yes, you are Alianya, the people’s hero as bestowed by Heaven itself! We need you, we need your help!”

Need my help? Need what help?

I had too many questions, and I eagerly awaited her answers.

She paused a bit, and when she spoke her tone suddenly became imposing: “The rubber tree forest is encroaching on our rain forest at this very moment, with each rubber tree that is planted a Skygazer tree comes crashing down; with each passing day the total area of the rain forest continues to diminish. To make a complete recovery, we must let the gestating spirit of the rain forest return to Mother Earth.”

Spirit of the rain forest? This was the first time I had heard this phrase.

The eyes of the mysterious girl suddenly met mine; she said, staring directly at me: “The rain forest is pregnant and expecting to deliver a god, and that god is the spirit of the rain forest!”

However, the greedy and avaricious people of the Earth have always coveted the spirit of the rain forest and have wanted to capture it.

Once they are able to capture the god-fetus inside the pregnant rain forest, these people will be able to dominate the rain forest. The ultimate fantasy of these people is to transform the rain forest into an paradise of rubber plant trees!

It seems as though some people have helped these evil people in already determining the exact location of the gestating god of the rain forest. Through scamming and exploitation they have made use of a bulldozer and are cutting down trees, and are closing in step by step towards the deepest part of the Skygazer trees.

The mysterious girl and her similarly blue-skinned companions are the spirited and plucky guardians of the rainforest, the following the same role as those before them had done previously and then passed down through the generations: to always protect the impregnated rain forest and the earth bank containing the unborn god.

They call themselves “Alianya”. In the words of these local people these three words mean “the forest with the trees”.

The Alianya protect the spirit of the rain forest, and I am their newest recruit.

In order to resist against foreign intruders, I need to learn each of the skills the Alianya use to survive in the rain forest.

The mysterious girl took out a bow and some arrows and gave them to me. She pouted her lips as if to say to me, “Do you know how to use this?”

Pffft! How hard can this be? Back in the city, my favorite hobby was throwing darts.

I took the bow and with indifference I pulled back the string; however, in doing so I neglected to put an arrow in it.

The girl suppressed a giggle; naturally, she wasn’t that type of person to ridicule or jeer at someone. However, I became so shy that I felt ashamed to show my face–Heaven knows if a blue face still allowed someone to blush and feel embarrassed. Why shouldn’t I be skilled at hitting my target?

I picked a few wild fruits to use as targets from a neighboring tree, and, calming my heartbeat and aiming, I summoned all my skill to throw a dart. It squarely hit the target across from us.

Bam! By lucky coincidence, upon impact the fruit shattered upon impact.

“Ha ha ha!” Out of the girl a cheerful sound came out out.

As the daylight faded, the mysterious girl took me down to the blue, undulating waves of the Nanla River.

She let me stand on a bamboo raft on my own. And then after having untied the rope and unhitched the raft, she kicked it out with her foot.

In an instant, the surface of the bamboo raft became slick as the waves of the Nanla River beat against my craft.

I suddenly began to panic; to extended my hand into the Nanla River to pick up a withered old tree branch; I wanted to row the bamboo raft back to shore.

But with such a slender branch, can I really smoothly guide the raft back?

She stood at the riverbank laughing heartily, and yet she kept repeatedly flashing hand signals towards me almost as if to say: “I am able to do this under my own power, I can operate this bamboo raft by myself.”

Rely on my own strength, my own power? Don’t rely on the tree branch?

Peace would not come to my heart as I lifted up the the tree branch in my hand and watched attentively to the river water spilling onto the raft.

At that time to my mind came an incomparable stillness; I discovered that I could feel the raft and I slowly but surely become one.

I tried out this idea to marshal the bamboo raft under my command, and bade it to turn left. And, in fact, it did; slowly and unhurriedly it began to shift, drifting lazily towards the left.

A-hah! I really could rely on my own power and smoothly operate the bamboo raft.

With the Nanla River flat as a mirror, I could see my own blue reflection in it.

I was happy like a madman, I wanted to let the mysterious girl know of my joy. But as I looked over to the riverbank, I could not see her footprints anymore.

After a long while she finally returned. She told me she had gone into the rain forest to rest a bit.

I asked her where she rested, and she pointed beside a banana tree.

Although I couldn’t see with my own eyes exactly on which banana leaf she rested, but I could still guess the circumstances at that time.

On the raft I played so happily that I just about forgot everything else; seemingly both the raft and I became as one, and together we went sight-seeing on the Nanla River.

I was indescribably excited, and I could not refrain myself from yelling out a loud cry.

I need to let everyone hear my roar!

Unconsciously, I began to feel a hunger in my belly. I steered the bamboo raft towards the riverbank. There, the mysterious girl smiled a smile and hopped aboard the raft.

She extended her arms and inserted them into the clear river water. When she retracted them she held in her hands a fresh, fat wriggling fish.

She picked up some dry firewood and by rubbing two sticks together she eventually made a fire.

With her bare hands she roasted the live fish. Although no condiments or seasonings were used, the cooked flavor was enjoyable beyond description.

While we were sharing the immensely enjoying feast, suddenly a shrill howling came from the bowels of the rain forest.

The mysterious girl’s expression changed abruptly. She stood up and grabbed the mat-awning we were sitting under, and started scanning the rain forest, her eyes full of anxiety.

What had happened in the rain forest? I would not let myself get nervous.

The mysterious girl lightly jumped up and then with light and graceful steps began to run wildly into the rain forest.

The place she was headed towards was the same place the shrill howl came from.

I followed behind her, and I unexpectedly discovered that the speed of my running had somehow increased from the time before I had entered the rain forest.

On the other hand, it really wasn’t so strange since I had already become one of the Alianya.

Just as we entered the rain forest, we saw the Alianya youths waiting fretfully for us.

What happened? Was the shriek we just heard made by them?

The Alianya youth didn’t say a word, but just silently turned his head. He faced the deep, secluded part of the rain forest; his face revealed he was deeply concerned about something.

Immediately, the mysterious girl became nervous.

What were they nervous about? I couldn’t help feeling apprehensive.

“Follow us!” The mysterious girl lead me by the hand and again we went deep into the heart of the forest running wildly.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

Without turning her head back to answer, the mysterious girl said: “We are going to the secret location of the spirit of the rain forest’s birthing place!”

Oh, the spirit of the rain forest; this time I was on the verge of meeting the mythical unborn spirit of the rain forest.

However, how can that screech be explained? Could it be that the greedy hunters have already intruded into the rain forest?

After passing through a portion of the rain forest crammed with plants, we stopped in our tracks on a slope in front of a Skygazer tree.

The mysterious girl pointed at the leaning Skygazer tree and said: “Follow me as I climb up to the crown of the tree; we are going to check out whether or not the tree is secure.”

She took the initiative in climbing up the Skygazer tree; I followed behind her, quick and lithely.

The mysterious girl’s shadow disappeared amidst the overgrowth of the Skygazer leaves, but I could yet still see a dark figure.

Suddenly my path became obstructed.

It was a figure dressed in black and he had a bald head; in his hand he aimed a crossbow at me, and on his face appeared a dark, fierce, sarcastic smile.

“Alianya, tell me: where is the spirit of the rain forest?” he coldly asked.

Suddenly, an edgy shrill whistle came from somewhere above my head.

I lifted my head but all I could see was a blue figure skim by me from the sky.

It was the blue-skinned Alianya youth; he was holding onto a vine and was swinging over to the leaning Skygazer tree.

Following with a scream, Alianya placidly dropped down beside me, and then with one hand pushed me aside.

I let him push me down the tree. As he lifted up his head, he coldly stared at the bald-headed man in the black clothes.

I know; he pushed me down the tree in order to save me from harm.

The bald-headed black suited thug unconsciously retreated backwards several steps in a row. The imposing manner of the youth had scared him somewhat.

The young man held up his crossbow and held it up to aim with a cold eye. In a stern voice, he shouted to the bald man to immediately get out of the rain forest and to stop coveting the treasure that lay within.

However, the Alianya people are kind and honest. The youth had made an oath; he would never use arrows dipped in poison and steal the lives of other people, even if it were evil people who were attempting to steal the spirit.

Faced with an arrow, the bald-headed black suited man couldn’t refrain from showing his fear. He timidly jumped off the tree trunk and buried his head in his hands as he ran away fleeing deep into the rain forest.

So it turned out that the evil person was lacking in self-confidence and when faced with righteousness could only choose to flee.

We couldn’t help but clap and celebrate our victory.

The feather arrow went through his chest and ripped open a seam of blood in it like a flower in bloom.

It was as though his heart was not willing; he couldn’t believe the world would go so far as to be this sinister.

.

The youth collapsed slowly onto the leaning Skygazer tree trunk.

There; that is the place where birds reside in their nests; nests in which birds use their beaks to carry back wild grass for their nests, and drop seeds inside holes in tree trunks.

If he is still able to grant himself good fortune, then into which next form will the Alianya youth reincarnate?

My heart could not help but be sad and cold.

The youth’s companion held his bleeding chest, and soundlessly sobbed.

Deep in my heart I silently told myself that this was necessary in order for the people of the rain forest to come and go on the circle of life, because there must be those that need to be reborn.

Afterwards, underneath the leaning Skygazer tree I picked up the fallen Alianya youth’s crossbow and was determined to get revenge.

However, the rain forest is vast and endless; where would I go to root out this evil bald-headed man clad in black?

As I was in the midst of all this haziness, the mysterious girl made her way gingerly next to me.

In a low voice she whispered to me: “To confront these evil people who will try in vain to destroy our rain forest, why don’t we use the power of the rain forest to destroy them?”

The power of the rain forest?

It was as if I had a kind of enlightened feeling.

In a soft voice the mysterious girl said into my ear, “Let all the creatures of the rain forest come and punish these bad people. Come still your heart, and with great detail listen respectfully to these many creatures’ calling. You are a person of a pure soul and heart, you can melt harmoniously together with them as one…”

According to her instructions, I calmed my heartbeat and spread out my two arms and silently using my soul I communicated with all the many creatures of the rain forest.

Truthfully, I could indeed hear each and every distant and dark call of the many creatures of the rain forest, every last cry and roar and whimper.

A portion of strong aura lingered within me. I felt as though I was floating in the air, and my whole body felt warm and foreign.

It seemed as though I knew what I had to do, thereupon I closed my eyes and concentrated. I silently prayed in my heart:

“All the creatures in the rain forest: you are to go punish these disgraceful wreckers!”

The mysterious girl grasped my hand, and together we ran off together towards the secluded part of the jungle.

Beside a small creek, we saw that bald-headed man struggling in pain. It wasn’t clear how but he had somehow gotten rolled up in a banana leaf. We could see he was packed in there tightly and that he was slowly being constricted.

The top of the bald man’s head was oozing sweat and his expression was very pained, but I nevertheless felt I was unable to express my joy.

The bald-headed man fell to the ground and the banana leaf plant immediately went limp. As if it possessed life and moved around like this normally, the banana leaf again wrapped itself around his head.

On the mysterious girl face was written an expression of nervousness, just like before. What was she nervous about? Of course, she was concerned about the pregnant rain forest and the unborn spirit of the rain forest and whether or not it was still safe and unharmed.

She led me by the hand again to return back to the leaning Skygazer tree.

Following the trunk of the tree, we went right to the end. And then there, with our eyes dancing about we were suddenly enlightened.

Right in front of us there emerged a gigantic Skygazer tree, both perfectly straight and enormously tall.

I looked up but could only see the ends of the tree branches, all floating in a halo of light.

Within the halo we could just see the form of a maiden with a coiled figure; her two hands were clasped about her knees, and she was in a deep slumber.

This was the spirit of the rain forest!

The mysterious girl told me in a sincere tone that within the egg of the spirit of the rain forest this unborn spirit was its god and protector.

The pregnancy of the spirit of the rain forest requires a period of a thousand years until it can finally break the shell of its egg and hatch. Just recently, these couple of days have been the final portion of the pregnancy.

Once she hatches and emerges, the world and all its creatures will heal and recover.

The Alianya people have served as the quick and plucky protectors of the egg; each generation they have stood on guard nearby and prevented any evil doers to come close.

As the spirit of the rain forest has been gestating within the egg, it could only be pregnant in the closest spot possible.

But because the environment has deteriorated, the plucky egg has continually relied on the spirit of he rain forest and its idea to relocate; so a few years back it has come to the Xishuangbanna tropical rain forest.

But, a million years have come and the clever spirit hunters have come, greedy for the spirit of the rain forest.

The evil people have started up their bulldozer and have gradually been encroaching upon the original rain forest.

The Alianya have been searching for a hero with a pure heart, and they see that person in me. Letting me traverse the sky corridor was their way of testing my courage.

When I had fainted they had transformed me into an Alianya and taught me all the skills required to survive in the rain forest.

And right now they need me to squeeze out a drop of blood from my fingertip and sprinkle it upon the plucky egg.

According to her instructions, I made a slit upon my hand.

A drop of fresh blood dripped upon the plucky egg.

And then something magical appeared before my eyes…

I had no way to describe it; at that moment all the words of the human language had their use forfeited in light of this phenomenon.

Right in front of my eyes was a lithe and graceful dancing spirit clad in white. She unhurriedly brandished her pure white wings.

She pursed her red lips to speak, and although the sound was low and delicate and she spoke a language I had never heard before, I nevertheless was still able to understand her without any problem.

She told us that if the shell of the spirit of the rain forest had been broken then all the creatures of the world would not recover completely.

All the people of the world need to alter their own notions and thoughts.

Wherever we lived we would ask for more; to that, it would retaliate all the more.

Although within these one thousand years the spirit of the rain forest had been inside the clever egg gestating, she still always had been paying close attention to the Earth.

Drought, mining disasters, earthquake, tsunamis, volcanic ash covering the sky and blocking out the sun, the hole in the ozone layer getting larger, global warming…

Whether or not the environment recovers or deteriorates all depends upon the hatching of the spirit of the rain forest; from a distance it is not enough.

We all need to let the “spirit of the rain forest” inside every person’s heart to awake and become aware!

I don’t know when but only then did I realize that the mysterious Alianya girl had already vanished without a trace.

And when the spirit of the rain forest came out, I unexpectedly felt that her features when compared with the mysterious girl were exactly one and the same.

What was this? Could it be that while the spirit of the rain forest was gestating her spirit had already overflowed out of the egg and from dark and obscure depths had been guiding me all along?

The spirit drew her wings together and faced me. After a small laugh, she quiet watched me attentively.

Under her gaze, I seemed to understand something.

Oh, I know now, I too am one of people of the world.

And I need to wake up.

Here in the rain forest I had this chance encounter with the Alianya people. With my own two eyes I have witnessed the marvel of the birth of the spirit of the rain forest, and from her own mouth have heard about the mysteries of nature.

However, not every person on Earth can get the kind of opportunity I have gotten.

The spirit of the rain forest definitely wants to express through my own words to let the “spirit of the rain forest” in everyone’s heart to awaken and become aware.

I know what I have to do now.

Once I get back to normal civilization, I must not spare any effort in publicizing this message and protect the last of the rain forest.

“If there is no rain forest, then there is no water. If there is no water, then there are no crops. If there are no crops, then there would be no humanity.”

The spirit of the rain forest spoke slowly.

But although these were obviously simple words, my hearing them was like achieving enlightenment.

I couldn’t help but hop atop the leaning Skygazer tree and give a shout.

But in that instant, I suddenly felt my body tremble. Then, I fell down from the tree trunk and landed in some some underbrush and then just like before, I fainted…

I slowly stirred awake and I discovered I was cold right to the bone. In the air I heard the sound of someone singing a song. Opening my eyes, I discovered I was lying in an open public square of some sort. I was surrounded by many villagers who were singing and dancing as they made their way towards me.

So, isn’t this the public square next to that pier when I first came here?

I was in the rain forest and I saw both the Alianya people as well as the spirit of the rain forest. Could it be that it was just a long and strange dream?

But why was this dream so real and life-life?

Seeing that I had regained consciousness, the singing and dancing girls and boys crowded around me. I could hear that they were singing a song praying for rain to fall on their village.

“If there is no rain forest, there is no water. If there is no water, there are no crops. If there are no crops, then there would be no humanity.”

Aren’t these the same words the spirit of the rain forest said to me underneath the Skygazer tree?

I couldn’t help but feel unsure about something.

Already, I had no way to distinguish between reality and a dream.

My body suddently started to shake for I saw standing in the middle of the beautiful girls someone I had just seen back in the rain forest; wasn’t that the “spirit of the rain forest”?

I wanted to stand up, but my two feet still lacked strength. I simply did not have the ability to move.

That beautiful girl could not help but smile.

Yes, I am confident; she is the mysterious girl of the Alianya people. Also, she is the “spirit of the rain forest,” just like in my dream!

What is this? A tribal emblem?

I suddenly discovered something right underneath my foot. Lowering my head, I saw that it was some kind of strange symbol.

I seem to remember the “Alianya” people wearing this exact symbol as a tattoo upon their foreheads.

Oh, I understand now; in fact, it was all not a dream.

Once I raised my head again, I saw the public square had become lonely and barren.

The beautiful girl could not be seen anymore, as well as all the singing and dancing people; it was just as though they had never appeared.

Again, I couldn’t tell the difference between fact and fiction.

I really wanted to let myself encounter it again so I could tell my friends back in the city.

From the ground I picked up the cell phone; when I flipped open the top, I could see on the screen inside two blue fingerprints.

Oh, I remember now; back in the rain forest when I discovered I had turned into Alianya, I had picked up the cell phone that was lying on the ground, still as before; then the mysterious girl had extended her arm and snatched it, running away.

Could it be that these two fingerprints were left by her?

No, this wasn’t a dream, these two fingerprints could prove everything.

However, unbeknownst to me, while I was staring at the fingerprints on the cell phone, from far away somebody was staring at me…

Thank you everybody for your continuing to pay close attention to this story. This story is completely devoted to all of you, and after this there will be shown a short video. We are intensifying our efforts to complete it. At that time everybody can see an even more complete story. Thank you everybody for your support!

At the pace of every two seconds in the tropical rainforest the equivalent of a soccer field disappears, and according to this rate within ten years all the rainforest on the planet will completely disappear…

And in China, unusual climate is also closely connected to the loss of forest vegetation …Do we continue sleeping, or do we wake up? Do we let things end? Or do we start something…?

End of story.

Oh yeah, also need to publicize our photography/film crew a bit, hehe…

This story and the images were posted part by part over one week between May 6 and May 13. Here are some “behind the scenes” photos that the poster included in between updates and after the completion of the story:

Comments from Tianya:

网速不好:

niubility.

imuomuo:

Talented, talented, truly talented. For you that is without peer, I prostrate myself at your feet.

n334:

Was Avatar really filmed at Xishuangbanna? If true, then we Xishuangbanna people are truly proud!!! Ding this up!!~~!

wlw66:

Didn’t you say there was also video?

mykons:

Shanzhai, shanzhai! But still pretty impressive!

hurong_915:

Lou zhu is truly talented, you did well!

坟地管埋员:

I only want to know, was that naked girl really naked? [x12]

dongbufengsha:

Really you have so much talent, ding ding ding!

jxh981

Very NB.

The broad ain’t bad.

梁靖镪:

The main actresses tits are really big!

阿呆不是阿瓜:

The lead actress seems to have exposed [her private parts], having a nosebleed [referring to self] …

masonallen:

In “Avatar”, they only have four fingers

寒露清霜:

Talented, the photography/filming and the make-up are both very professional.

我是三三儿:

How was that blue skin achieved?
Make-up or PS??
Requesting an answer!

chris1525:

The lead actress’s body is too amazing…Her’s is the kind of figure that definitely should be shared with others!!

gjqqkk:

I hate those small glowing things.

Beautiful and intelligent single female photographers. chinaSMACK personals.

See more of candisino’s translations at his personal blog.