‘So magical and cute’: Why an oddly-shaped Puppy Mountain in China is drawing crowds

When Shanghai-based designer Guo Qingshan posted a vacation photo on Valentine’s Day and captioned it “Puppy Mountain,” it quickly became a sensation in China, creating a new tourist attraction.

After posting a snap of the unusual mountain on social media, hundreds of visitors have flocked to the newly named ‘Puppy Mountain’, set by a pretty riverside.

This is not the only example of seeing faces in mountains – several exist in Europe!

Puppy Mountain has caused ‘dog tourism’ to grow in Zigui County

Guo had gone on a hike while visiting his hometown of Yichang in central China’s Hubei province in late January.

When reviewing the photos, he saw something he hadn’t noticed before: A mountain shaped like a dog’s head rested on the ground next to the Yangtze River, its snout perched at the water’s edge.

After Guo posted a photo on Chinese social media app RedNote (Xiaohongshu), he received 120,000 likes within just 10 days. On the media platform Weibo, the hashtag #xiaogoushan – Chinese for ‘Puppy Mountain’ – drew millions of views.

“It was so magical and cute. I was so excited and happy when I discovered it,” Guo said.

“The puppy’s posture is like it’s drinking water, or it’s looking at some fish. It also looks like it’s quietly protecting the Yangtze River,” he said.

Dog owners started to post pictures of their dogs to see which one had the closest resemblance.

Many people travelled to the location in Yichang to see the mountain for themselves and some even brought their dogs to take photos.

“Puppy Mountain here I am!” 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.”

Another social media user commented: “We all need the eyes to see the beauty in this world.”

Previous visitors admit they ‘didn’t realise it looked like a dog’

Yang Yang, who lives about an hour and a half from the location, drove there with her friends and her two-year-old grey poodle named Yang Keyi.

“I was really happy to see the mountain,” she said. “I 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 had previously taken from the same deck. Many said they hadn’t realised it looked like a dog, while others 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 realised that I have been to this place before. I thought it looked like a dog at that time too!”

Humans can’t help but seek out faces in objects throughout Europe

When an inanimate object such as a mountain looks like it has a face, this is known as pareidolia, a psychological phenomenon where people try to perceive recognisable patterns to better make visual sense of the world.

Tourists often have the chance to experience this. If you’re visiting the Spanish region of Andalusia you may spot the profile of a reclining man’s face in Peña de Los Enamorados, a rocky hill near Antequera.

While in the craggy Ebihens archipelago of northwestern France, it’s quite easy – when viewed from a particular angle – to see the profile of a ‘face’ with eyes, nose, lips, chin, and even a green crop of hair.

You’ll also find a fascinating example of pareidolia on the Swedish island of Gotland in the Hoburgen peninsula. Renowned for its sea stacks – created when ocean waves erode coastal cliffs into isolated columns – the top of a limestone formation known as Hoburgsgubben (Old Man of Hoburgen) depicts a face with a pronounced nose.

And, in Northern Ireland, you don’t even need to leave the city of Belfast to observe several faces in the nearby hills of Cavehill, including ‘Nap’s Napper’ – Napoleon’s Nose.