A cliffside that looks like a sleeping puppy has become a tourist attraction after going viral on social media.

Shanghai-based designer, Guo Qingshan, was on a hike in his hometown of Yichang when he stopped to take a photograph of a cliff overlooking the Yangtze River.

Afterwards, when reviewing his photos, Guo realised the cliff looked like a dog’s head resting on the ground, lying by the water’s edge.

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

“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 posted the photo, taken from an observation deck, on the Chinese social media app RedNote (similar to TikTok) and got hundreds of thousands of likes within days.

And on another Chinese social media platform Weibo (similar to Twitter), the hashtag #xiaogoushan – Chinese for “Puppy Mountain” – drew millions of views.

“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.”

People started travelling to the beauty spot to see the cliff for themselves, with many taking their dogs with them for a side-by-side comparison shot.

Yang Yang, who lives over an hour from the cliff, drove with her friends and her two-year-old grey poodle named Yang Keyi to visit.

“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.”

Yichang resident Shi Tong said he knew he had seen the mountain before, and posted a photo he took of the location in 2021.

He said: “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!”