From Avatar to mountain of rubbish: China pulls decade of trash from caves

Chinese authorities have cleaned up more than 50 tonnes of rubbish from ancient caves in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, a stunning site that inspired a location in Avatar, and punished four officials after the cavities became a stinking dumping ground.

The clean-up came around two weeks after a viral video showed the state of a natural cave in Zhangjiajie’s Cili county in Hunan province that had been used for years by nearby villagers to dump rubbish, resulting in garbage piling up “as high as seven or eight floors”.

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Rubbish and sewage built up in the descending cave and spilled to the surface, producing an unbearable stench, local press reported.

The circulating video showing the pollution shocked Chinese people around the country. The Zhangjiajie natural reserve is part of a wider scenic area recognised as a Unesco World Heritage site. Dubbed a “wonderland on Earth”, it became a point of national pride and a popular tourist destination after James Cameron was inspired by its towering pillar formations for his 2009 epic film, Avatar.

Confirming the findings on May 31, the Cili county government said it had found tonnes of garbage in two ancient caves, including mineral water bottles produced in 2015 which indicated the refuse had been there at least a decade.

It said the rubbish was dumped by nearby villagers between 2010 and 2016 when the local government had banned garbage incineration but had not yet created a new garbage collection and treatment service.

South China Morning Post