Where deities dwell

Shenxianju scenic area in Xianju county, Zhejiang province, which boasts terrain shaped by unique igneous rhyolite formations, is called the abode of the immortals. [Photo by Xu Lin/Erik Nillson/China Daily]

A four-hour hiking route indeed offers what seems to be an almost spiritual experience.

It starts from a forested valley laced with streams that gurgle through the cracks among cliffs from which waterfalls gush.

Many mountains have been given anthropomorphic designations.

General Cliff resembles the crisp profile of a handsome, helmeted military leader.

In the distance is Sleeping Beauty Rock, which looks like a beautiful young woman reclining, clad in vegetation. Local lore has it that the general is guarding his lover.

A cable car leads up the sheer mountainsides. Walkways cling to the cliffs.

It's the kind of wonderland scenery, in the capital-W sense, that perhaps hints as to how Alice felt.

You almost wonder where exactly the gods hide among the mountains that stab through the mist.