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？