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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

UK Towns Harness Nature to Combat Rising Flood Risk

A volunteer constructs a natural flood management feature on the Saffron Brook in Leicester. Darren Staples / AFP
A volunteer constructs a natural flood management feature on the Saffron Brook in Leicester. Darren Staples / AFP
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UK Towns Harness Nature to Combat Rising Flood Risk

A volunteer constructs a natural flood management feature on the Saffron Brook in Leicester. Darren Staples / AFP
A volunteer constructs a natural flood management feature on the Saffron Brook in Leicester. Darren Staples / AFP

In a stream near Leicester in central England, six volunteers in waterproof overalls and boots busily reinforced mini wooden structures designed to combat the rising flooding threat.

The city, like many others in the UK, has experienced several intense rainfall events in recent years, which have caused significant damage.

Alert to climate change, which intensifies these events, authorities are strengthening their defenses and turning to solutions more sympathetic with the environment.

With their feet firmly planted on the bed of the Saffron Brook, a tributary of the River Soar that runs through Leicester, the volunteers ensured the structures' wooden bundles were securely anchored.

These structures create bends that "change the behavior of the river" and slow down water in stretches where it currently flows "straight and very fast," said Dan Scott, who leads the program at the Trent Rivers Trust, a local group working to protect rivers.

He regularly oversees the installation of new facilities.

A few months ago, the trust dug a pond on a river near the town of Loughborough and installed dozens of leaky wooden barriers to better protect downstream houses that flooded in the past.

These techniques are "complementary to traditional flood defenses" such as retention basins and canals that are increasingly under strain, Scott said.

They "help to store some of that water upstream so that those traditional flood defenses don't get overwhelmed, and if they do, it's not as quickly as if these features weren't in place," he added.

They also help to maintain biodiversity.

'Urgent problem'

More than 6.3 million properties are at risk of flooding in the UK, and this figure will rise to more than eight million by 2050, according to a recent government report.

"Flooding is a really urgent societal problem," said Steven Forest, director of the Flood Risk Management Program at the University of Hull.

Climate events resulted in UK insurance payouts of more than £400 million ($532 million) in 2022 and more than £570 million in 2023 and 2024, half of which was related to flooding, according to the Association of British Insurers.

Beyond traditional defenses, "we need to think about living with water, and we need to think about integrating water within our urban spaces," Forest added.

He cited the Netherlands, which allocates space for rivers to drain during heavy rainfall, and the United States, where vegetation "buffer zones" were created after Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

"Straight-jacketing" waterways with various infrastructure is no longer sufficient, Forest said, especially since seven percent of such structures were assessed to be in "poor" or "very poor" condition by the UK Environment Agency in 2022.

Overcoming skepticism

But convincing residents and authorities is not always an easy task as it often needs explaining that "just because we've not built a concrete solution, that it isn't going to be as effective," Scott said.

"It's also about re-educating people in government because it's easier for them to sell something (to voters) that's physical and much more prominent within the landscape," he added.

Traditional developments attracted the lion's share of the £2.6 billion announced by the government in March to fund new flood defense systems over the next two years.

But Scott noted a greater interest in natural flood management over the past five years, with the previous government launching a £25 million program last year.

As a result, Leicester will be able to develop several waterways southeast of the city, and 35 other projects have been selected in England.

"It is encouraging that our successful approach to natural flood management measures is continuing to be supported," Geoff Whittle, a local councilor responsible for the environment, told AFP.

Contemplating the fruits of her labor in Saffron, 50-year-old volunteer Lis Gibbs told AFP that "it feels like you can make a difference," in contrast to climate change in general, which "can feel really overwhelming".