Just days after the Jan. 4 premiere of Hollywood blockbuster Avatar in China, the box offices across the country had gone beyond 100 million yuan (around $14.7 million), thanks to the enthusiasm of huge number of Chinese movie fans.

好莱坞大片《阿凡达》(Avatar)1月4日在中国上映，由于中国众多影迷的热情，该片短短几天票房便超过人民币1亿元（约1,470万美元）。

As the year's first foreign movie in China, the sci-fi film has grabbed the imagination of tens of millions of Chinese. China Film Group Corp. Estimates are that the total box office take may ultimately top 500 million yuan. So far, the Hollywood disaster film 2012 has fetched the most at the box office in China's history at 460 million yuan.

《阿凡达》令中国影迷们心驰神往作为今年中国第一部进口大片，这部科幻影片令数千万中国影迷心驰神往。预计这部影片总票房将突破5亿元。截至目前，好莱坞灾难片《2012》以人民币4.6亿元占据中国史上最高票房的位置。

Though almost every movie theater in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai gives Avatar top billing, with as many as 20 show times a day, Chinese viewers still find it tough to get a ticket. In Beijing, the Wanda Movie Theater in Shijingshan, the first IMAX theater in Asia, is the theater of choice for Avatar moviegoers. The theater's general manager told Chinese state-run broadcaster CRI Online that the theater shows the 3D IMAX version of Avatar five times a day, and that tickets are generally sold out a day in advance.

北京和上海等大城市几乎每家影院都为《阿凡达》安排了最优先的档期，每天最多达20场，然而中国观众仍然觉得一票难求。北京石景山的万达影院是亚洲首家IMAX巨幕影院，也是《阿凡达》观影者的首选。这家影院的总经理对国营媒体国际在线(CRI Online)说，影院每天放映五场3D IMAX版《阿凡达》，电影票通常提前一天售罄。

In Shanghai, to get an IMAX ticket for Avatar can mean waiting in freezing weather all night for a show three days later. Shanghai local media reported that on Friday, around 500 people were queuing for tickets at 8 a.m. in front of the downtown Peace Cinema, including some who had waited for 12 hours. Movie fans came equipped with quilts, wooden stools and snacks, in a scene reminiscent of that at train-station ticket windows before the Lunar New Year holidays in China, when huge numbers of Chinese travel to be with family.

在上海，想买到一张《阿凡达》IMAX电影票意味着要在严寒中整夜守候，买到的还是三天后的场次。上海当地媒体报道，上周五早上8点，市中心的和平影都已经有约500人排队买票，其中一些人已经排了12个小时。排队的影迷们带上了棉被、凳子和零食，此情此景让人想起中国春运前的火车票售票窗口。

For the 3D version of Avatar, ticket prices varied for different theaters and time slots, ranging from 60 yuan to 120 yuan. Meanwhile, illegal tickets traders asked as much as 600 yuan for the IMAX version in Shanghai. The Peace Cinema is planning to raise the ticket price for the IMAX version to as much as 200 yuan from the current 150 yuan from Jan. 14 for some time slots.

《阿凡达》3D版电影票价格因影院和场次而异，从60元到120元不等。与此同时，上海的“黄牛”为IMAX版电影票喊出了600元的高价。和平影都计划从1月14日起将IMAX版部分场次票价从目前的150元上调为200元。

A report by the People's Daily (in Chinese ) attributes the difficulty in getting tickets partly to the scarcity of 3D screens in China. The report said, 'According to insiders, the number of 3D screens in Chinese movie theatres has sharply risen from the original 330 to around 700 now; however, there are only 11 IMAX commercial theaters in nine cities across China.' Several upcoming 3D productions, including 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' and the seventh Harry Potter movie, are expected to bring daunting challenges to movie theatres when they land in China.

《人民日报》的一则报道将《阿凡达》一票难求的主要原因归结为国内电影院3D银幕资源的稀缺。报道说，根据业内人士透露，为了迎接《阿凡达》的到来，全国范围内3D银幕数量近期从330块陡增至700余块。但是，目前全国仅有9个城市拥有11个用于放映商业电影的IMAX放映厅。继 《阿凡达》之后今年还将登录中国内地的有《爱丽丝梦游仙境》、《哈利波特7》等多部3D大片。这对国内现有的影院设备升级又是一大挑战。

With a lack of IMAX theaters, people are traveling long distances to see the movie. In southern China, the IMAX-equipped Dongguan Wanda theater has seen a huge influx of people from Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Wednesday afternoon, due to a technical breakdown of the system, the movie was suspended for an hour, and the sound didn't synch with the picture. In the end, the general manager of the theater had to beg forgiveness on his knees twice to sooth the angry audience who drove a long way to see the movie; the theater had to refund each audience member the full ticket price as well as 200 yuan for traffic expenses.

由于IMAX影院稀缺，人们不惜长途跋涉。广东东莞的万达影院配有IMAX放映厅，无数人从广州和深圳远道而来。上周三下午，由于系统技术故障，影片放映暂停了一小时，随后又出现声音与画面不同步的问题。最后，影院总经理不得不两次向观众下跪，以抚平远道驾车前来观影的观众的怒火；影院方面为每位观众全额退还票价，并赔偿200元交通费。

The stunning visual effects of the film that runs 2hours and 42 minutes are seen as too good to miss even a moment of. Tips from a foreign Web site about what are the best points in the movie for a quick bathroom run have lately made the rounds on China's social network Web sites, and have been translated into a text message that people send to their friends via cell phone. According to the tips , four time slots are suggested, one, approximately 56 minutes into the movie, when Trudy says 'You should see your faces,' the second, approximately 117 minutes into the movie, when Jake laments, 'Everything is backwards now. Out there is the true world and this is the dream', and the third, approximately 133 minutes into the movie, when the colonel says to Jake, 'I might want to give you a big wet kiss', and finally, approximately 142 minutes into the movie, when Dr. Grace says 'This is going to ruin my whole day,' followed by non-stop action scenes.

这部长达2小时42分钟的影片拥有极具震撼力的视觉效果，被认为片刻也不容错过。国外一家网站列出了观影时的最佳如厕时间，最近成了中国各大社交网站的热门转帖，并被改编成手机短信，供人们通过手机发送给朋友。“如厕宝典”建议了四个最佳如厕时段，其一是电影进行到56分钟左右时，Trudy说“你们真该看看你们的脸”；其二，电影进行到117分钟左右时，Jake开始旁白，“时间开始倒流。外面是真实的世界，而我们身处梦中”；其三，电影进行到133分钟左右时，上校对Jake说，“我真想狠狠地亲你一口”；最后一段则是在电影进行到142分钟左右，Grace博士说，“我这一天就这么被毁了”，紧接着就是一连串的动作戏。

That raises the question: After waiting patiently in line, will viewers then spend the entire movie checking their watches?

不过上述“如厕宝典”也有一个问题：在耐心地排了这么久的队之后，观众欣赏影片时难道还会去频频看表吗？