In almost any condition, heaven's gate looks otherworldly, like a portal to something greater than the earth. Usually shrouded in blinding sunlight or dense fog, visitors climb 999 steps to reach the peak, where they end their trip 4100 feet above the world, in a realm where legend believes the gods meet the mortal world.

420 feet high and 180 feet wide, the cave slit of heaven's gate is visible from any distance below the cave. Always draped in mystery, the exhaustive hike up the hill follows an old path of carved stone stairs, dotted with small wooden huts along the way. The entire path is guided by the portal at the peak, but the views on the way up make it obvious why generations of people in Hunan believed that Heaven's Gate was the realm of the gods.