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A Cliff That Looks Like a Puppy Resting Beside the Yangtze River Delights People in China 

In this photo taken Jan 20, 2025 and released by Guo Qingshan, a view of the "Puppy Mountain" which went viral over the internet in China seen in Yichang, a city in central China's Hubei province. (Guo Qingshan via AP)
In this photo taken Jan 20, 2025 and released by Guo Qingshan, a view of the "Puppy Mountain" which went viral over the internet in China seen in Yichang, a city in central China's Hubei province. (Guo Qingshan via AP)
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A Cliff That Looks Like a Puppy Resting Beside the Yangtze River Delights People in China 

In this photo taken Jan 20, 2025 and released by Guo Qingshan, a view of the "Puppy Mountain" which went viral over the internet in China seen in Yichang, a city in central China's Hubei province. (Guo Qingshan via AP)
In this photo taken Jan 20, 2025 and released by Guo Qingshan, a view of the "Puppy Mountain" which went viral over the internet in China seen in Yichang, a city in central China's Hubei province. (Guo Qingshan via AP)

When Shanghai-based designer Guo Qingshan posted a vacation photo on Valentine’s Day and captioned it “Puppy Mountain,” 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’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.

“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.

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 — Chinese for “Puppy Mountain” — 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.

“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.”

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.

“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 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!”

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Varieties

Ancient Cave Discovery Reshapes Scientists' Understanding of Neanderthals and Modern Humans

Modern humans and Neanderthals may have lived as friends (Instagram) 
Modern humans and Neanderthals may have lived as friends (Instagram) 
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Ancient Cave Discovery Reshapes Scientists' Understanding of Neanderthals and Modern Humans

Modern humans and Neanderthals may have lived as friends (Instagram) 
Modern humans and Neanderthals may have lived as friends (Instagram) 

Groundbreaking archaeological research from southern Türkiye suggests a surprising new narrative: modern humans and Neanderthals may have lived as friends, sharing elements of their culture.

Evidence unearthed at Ucagizli II Cave indicates that these two closely related human species coexisted between 50,000 and 60,000 years ago, adopting remarkably similar technologies, survival strategies, and even symbolic traditions between 50,000 and 60,000 years ago, according to The Independent.

The revelations could profoundly reshape scientists’ understanding of how Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis interacted during a pivotal period in human evolution.

While modern humans undertook their significant “Out of African” migration into Eurasia, fossil evidence from the Levant – a crucial geographical corridor connecting the two continents – has historically remained relatively scarce.

To shed further light on this era, an international team of researchers from Türkiye, France, and Japan, including scientists from Kyoto University, embarked on extensive excavations at Ucagizli II Cave.

Over a painstaking five-year period, archaeologists meticulously excavated the site millimeter by millimeter.

Their efforts uncovered compelling proof that both Neanderthals and modern humans not only occupied the cave but also used identical stone tool technologies and employed the same hunting methods.

Crucially, researchers also discovered clear indications that the two groups engaged in shared behaviors extending well beyond the necessities of daily survival, hinting at a deeper cultural exchange.

Both Neanderthals and modern humans appear to have deliberately collected the same type of marine seashell, despite it having little or no value as a food source.

Such shells had previously been regarded as being associated only with modern humans.

The researchers say the shared preference for these non-utilitarian objects may point to the exchange of symbolic or cultural practices between the two species.

“Our findings indicate a deep level of cultural interaction,” said a corresponding author Naoki Morimoto of KyotoU.

“These two distinct but closely related human groups were not just adapting to the same environment: they were probably sharing symbolic preferences.”

The modern human remains recovered from the cave have been dated to between 50,000 and 60,000 years ago, placing them within the period when genetic evidence suggests modern humans were dispersing from Africa into Eurasia.

According to the researchers, the individuals may represent close relatives of the population that gave rise to all present-day people living outside Africa.

Alternatively, they could belong to a previously unknown population descended from an earlier migration into the Levant.

The team says the discoveries help fill a significant gap in the archaeological record, offering new insights into how modern humans and Neanderthals may have lived, interacted and exchanged ideas during a prolonged period of coexistence spanning more than 20,000 years.

 

Varieties

Heatwave Linked to More Than 5,000 Deaths in Germany, Institute Says

Police use water cannon to spray people with water as the arrive at the Olympic stadium for a concert of US singer Bruno Mars on June 28, 2026, in Berlin, as the German capital is expected to reach temperatures around 40 degrees Celsius during a heatwave in Europe. (AFP)
Police use water cannon to spray people with water as the arrive at the Olympic stadium for a concert of US singer Bruno Mars on June 28, 2026, in Berlin, as the German capital is expected to reach temperatures around 40 degrees Celsius during a heatwave in Europe. (AFP)
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Heatwave Linked to More Than 5,000 Deaths in Germany, Institute Says

Police use water cannon to spray people with water as the arrive at the Olympic stadium for a concert of US singer Bruno Mars on June 28, 2026, in Berlin, as the German capital is expected to reach temperatures around 40 degrees Celsius during a heatwave in Europe. (AFP)
Police use water cannon to spray people with water as the arrive at the Olympic stadium for a concert of US singer Bruno Mars on June 28, 2026, in Berlin, as the German capital is expected to reach temperatures around 40 degrees Celsius during a heatwave in Europe. (AFP)

Germany has recorded an estimated 5,120 heat-related deaths so far this year, most of them in late June when weekly average temperatures far exceeded 20 degrees Celsius, the Robert ‌Koch Institute (RKI) ‌for public health ‌said on ⁠Thursday.

Around 4,270 of ⁠the deaths were among people aged 75 and older, the RKI said in a weekly report. More women ⁠than men died, mainly ‌because ‌they make up a higher ‌share of the very old.

The ‌German data add to a grim picture across Europe. The EU's Copernicus Climate ‌Change Service said in a bulletin on Thursday ⁠that ⁠Western Europe had its hottest June on record with an average of 20.74 degrees.

National authorities have reported more than 4,700 excess deaths during the June 20-28 heatwave in France, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands.

Varieties

Alpacas, Mini Pigs on the Loose after Floods Hit China Zoo

A drone view shows rescue workers conducting relief operations in flood-affected Maling town, after the Liulan reservoir dam breach, following heavy rainfall brought by typhoon Maysak, in Hengzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, July 8, 2026. China Daily via REUTERS
A drone view shows rescue workers conducting relief operations in flood-affected Maling town, after the Liulan reservoir dam breach, following heavy rainfall brought by typhoon Maysak, in Hengzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, July 8, 2026. China Daily via REUTERS
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Alpacas, Mini Pigs on the Loose after Floods Hit China Zoo

A drone view shows rescue workers conducting relief operations in flood-affected Maling town, after the Liulan reservoir dam breach, following heavy rainfall brought by typhoon Maysak, in Hengzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, July 8, 2026. China Daily via REUTERS
A drone view shows rescue workers conducting relief operations in flood-affected Maling town, after the Liulan reservoir dam breach, following heavy rainfall brought by typhoon Maysak, in Hengzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, July 8, 2026. China Daily via REUTERS

At least 100 animals, including alpacas, miniature pigs and zebras, escaped a zoo in southern China's Guangxi region after floods damaged their enclosures.

Typhoon Maysak has ravaged southern and central China this week, killing 39 people in Guangxi and forcing the evacuation of 130,000.

The province's Guigang Zoo asked the public Wednesday for help in finding its escaped animals, saying some enclosures had been damaged by "continuous heavy rainfall".

It provided a list of missing creatures, including "two North American raccoons, four porcupines and thirty peacocks", according to a statement posted by a local district's Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau.

The zoo said some of the escapees "may be frightened and potentially aggressive".

"If you spot any of the animals, please keep a safe distance," AFP quoted the statement as saying.

"Do not attempt to catch, approach or tease them, as this could be dangerous," the zoo warned.

Meanwhile, videos of villagers knee-deep in floodwater and frantically trying to catch snakes swimming in a flooded Guangxi town with their bare hands and nets went viral on social media this week.

Wu Zhi, the head of a local village committee, told state-owned media Red Star News that around 800 to 900 snakes escaped on Monday after a breeding farm was washed away in Hengzhou city.

The city "immediately bolstered its reserves of medical resources and urgently expanded the stock of antivenom" at the local hospital, state broadcaster CCTV reported.