McDonald's to open on Zhangjiajie mountaintop

CHANGSHA - American fast-food giant McDonald's is expected to open an outlet on the top of the Tianmen Mountain of Zhangjiajie scenic spot in Central China's Hunan province before May 1.

McDonald's has signed a 20-year rental contract with the owner of the Tianzi fast-food restaurant located atop the 1,518-meter-high peak, an official with the scenic spot's infrastructure construction headquarters said on Friday.

McDonald's will invest 20 million yuan ($3.2 million) in renovating the outlet, a staff member of the retailer's public relations department added, while confirming the targeted timeline for opening.

Zhangjiajie, classified by UNESCO as a World Geopark and also a World Heritage Site, was formally warned by the organization in January for inadequately disseminating knowledge of earth sciences to the public.

It has also been criticized for over-commercializing in the past decade. A total of 124 hotels and 1,791 residents on the mountain have been relocated in the government's renovation campaign.

Zhangjiajie received 35.9 million visitors from home and abroad and had a tourism revenue of 20.87 billion yuan last year.