Unlikely location in China becomes tourist hotspot after bizarre photo goes viral

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A photo of a mountain in Yichang, China, has gone viral after it was shared to social media, prompting people to flock to it - with their dogs

Guo Qingshan’s image of what he has nicknamed 'Puppy Mountain'
Guo Qingshan’s image of what he has nicknamed 'Puppy Mountain' (Image credit: Guo Qingshan/AP)

An unexpected location in China has become a surprise hotspot in China after an image of the area went viral.

Guo Qingshan, from Shanghai, shared the unusual picture on the social media network Xiaohongshu (also known as Red Note) of a landscape from his native Yichang, in Hubei Province, which has sparked widespread interest.

Captioning the photo “puppy mountain”, he only noticed the resemblance when reviewing his photos, suddenly seeing the shape of a dog’s head resting on the ground, the tip of its snout along the water's edge.

The post received 120,000 likes in 10 days. He said: “It was so magical and cute,” adding, “I felt excited and happy when I discovered it.” The hashtag #xiaogoushan, Chinese for “puppy mountain”, also drew millions of views on the media platform Weibo.

The image prompted people on social media to post pictures of their own dogs to see which one resembled the rockface more, and many people traveled to the location to see the mountain, and take their own shots.

“Puppy Mountain here I am!” said a user on RedNote along with photos of the mountain. “Just stroke the puppy’s head and then everything will be OK.” Another wrote: “We all need the eyes to see the beauty in this world.”

According to the BBC, after Guo’s photo went viral, many people shared photos of the view they had previously taken from the deck, with many saying they had never realised it looked like a dog. Some discussed how the dog’s appearance had changed over the years.

It added, "Shi Tong, a Yichang resident, 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 realised that I have been to this place before. I thought it looked like a dog at that time, too.”

Take a look at our guides to the best cameras for landscape photography, the best lenses for landscape photography, and the best budget telephoto lenses.

Leonie Helm
Leonie Helm
Staff Writer

After graduating from Cardiff University with an Master's Degree in Journalism, Media and Communications Leonie developed a love of photography after taking a year out to travel around the world. 

While visiting countries such as Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Bangladesh and Ukraine with her trusty Nikon, Leonie learned how to capture the beauty of these inspiring places, and her photography has accompanied her various freelance travel features. 

As well as travel photography Leonie also has a passion for wildlife photography both in the UK and abroad. 

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