The viral photo that converted a Chinese landmark into a tourist sensation

What started as a simple holiday snapshot unexpectedly turned into a viral feeling and tourists and dog lovers alike to a remote place along the Jangtse River. On Valentine's Day, the designer Guo Qingshan based in Shanghai announced a photo of a hiking trip in Yichang, province of Hubei. “Puppy Mountain”. The picture showed a mountain that resembled the head of a huge dog and apparently rested near the river as if it were drinking out of the water or watching over the landscape.

Guo had taken the photo January When he visited his hometown, but only when he later checked the pictures, he noticed the special dog -like formation. He fascinates his delightful similarity, he posted her on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu (Rednote), where she quickly won the climb. The item had accumulated 120,000 likes within 10 days, and on Weibo, the hashtag #xiaogoushan (Chinese for “Puppy Mountain”) collected millions of views and officially transformed the place into an internet-famous attraction.

A new tourist destination is born

Accordingly AP NewsThe unexpected fame of the Puppy Mountain has already transformed a unique hiking trail in the Zigui County, Yichang, into a new tourist destination. Visitors travel from all over China to see the special dog -shaped summit. Some locals even found that they had previously unwittingly photographed the mountain, but had never noticed his puppy shape before.

As Popularity of puppyberg On the route, tourists put pilgrimages on the website and often made their own dogs pose side by side with the dog -shaped landscape. Dog owners on social media compared their pets with the mountain and discuss what it is most similar. The phenomenon has even triggered local companies to use the trend. Some providers sell souvenirs and goods with the silhouette of the mountain.

A mountain that has been observed for years

Although Puppy A few locals have recently been claimed that they had found years ago that it was a hunger -like characteristics. After Guo's post had become viral, many residents bury old photos from the same observation deck and found that they unknowingly captured the same dog -shaped formation.

In Yichang Shi TongFor example, a photo of 2021, on which the mountain was already similar to a resting puppy. “After seeing the Puppy Mountain photo online, I tried to see where it was. And then I realized that I've been to this place before! I thought it looked like a dog at that time! “He said.

Some social media users even discussed how the appearance of the “Puppy”Has changed subtly over the years, possibly due to erosion and natural landscape shifts. This has led to speculation about whether the form of Puppy Mountain will remain the same or whether nature will finally transform its characteristics into something else.