When Shanghai-based designer Guo Qingshan posted a vacation photo on Valentine鈥檚 Day and captioned it 鈥淧uppy Mountain,鈥 it became a sensation in China and even created a tourist destination.
Guo had gone on a hike while visiting his hometown of Yichang in central China鈥檚 Hubei province in late January. When reviewing the photos, he saw something he hadn鈥檛 noticed before: A mountain shaped like a dog鈥檚 head rested on the ground next to the Yangtze River, its snout perched at the water鈥檚 edge.
鈥淚t was so magical and cute. I was so excited and happy when I discovered it,鈥 Guo said.
鈥淭he puppy鈥檚 posture is like it鈥檚 drinking water, or it鈥檚 looking at some fish. It also looks like it鈥檚 quietly protecting the Yangtze River," he said.
Guo's post on Chinese social media app Xiaohongshu, or RedNote, received 120,000 likes within 10 days. On the media platform Weibo, the hashtag #xiaogoushan 鈥 Chinese for 鈥淧uppy Mountain鈥 鈥 drew millions of views.
Dog owners started to post pictures of their dogs to see which one had the closest resemblance. Many people traveled directly to the location in Yichang to see the mountain for themselves and some even brought their dogs to take photos.
鈥淧uppy Mountain here I am!鈥 one social media user wrote on RedNote along with photos of the mountain. "Just stroke the puppy's head and then everything will be OK.鈥 Another social media user commented: 鈥淲e all need the eyes to see the beauty in this world.鈥
Yang Yang, who lives about an hour and half from the location, drove there with her friends and her 2-year-old grey poodle named Yang Keyi.
鈥淚 was really happy to see the mountain,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 always travel with my dog if possible, so Puppy Mountain and my own little dog really match."
The mountain is in Yichang's Zigui County, where it can be seen from an observation deck. The Yangtze River, the longest river in China and the third-longest river in the world, flows through the mountainous area.
After Guo's photo went viral, many people shared photos of the view they previously had taken from the same deck, many saying they hadn't realized it looked like a dog. Some discussed how the dog's appearance has changed over the years.
Yichang resident Shi Tong said he knew he had seen the mountain before, and posted a photo he took of the location in 2021.
"After I saw the Puppy Mountain photo online, I tried to look up where it is. And then I realized that I have been to this place before. I thought it looked like a dog at that time too!鈥
