On his hiking holiday, the Chinese designer Guo Qingshan took a photo at the end of January, where he initially had no idea which waves the picture will still beat. From a viewing platform, Qingshan photographed the Jangsekiang river, the longest river in China near his hometown Yichang. Only when he looked at his pictures does he notice: The downhill cut on the banks of the river appears to him like a dog head.
Enthusiastic about the shape of the rock, he publishes the photo on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, also known as a speaker. “Puppy Mountain” writes Qingshan for the photo – translated, for example. The post quickly goes viral. He collects around 120,000 likes within ten days. A corresponding hashtag reaches millions of calls on the Weibo platform. Since then, the rock with the similarity of a dog puppy has attracted some enthusiastic dog owners. Many traveled to be photographed with their animals in front of the “puppy mountain”.
Animal rocks in other places in the world
The downhill section in the Chinese district of Zigui is far from the only natural phenomenon that has a similarity to animals. In other parts of the world, too, there are rock formations that – at least partially – give the appearance as if animals have engraved themselves into the landscape.
A well -known example is the elephant rock on the Icelandic island of Heimaey. This natural formation shaped by volcanic activities looks like an elephant that drinks water from the Atlantic on the island coast. The small island is almost 13 square kilometers and is located in the south of Iceland.
Also in the desert of Al-ʿUla in Saudi Arabia, a rock in elephant look sits enthroned, which is many times larger than a person. And in the USA you can find an “elephant” on the California coast with a little imagination. The rock formation in the Point Reyes National Seashor nature reserve is reminiscent of an elephant in the water with a reduced trunk.
In the Turkish region of Cappadocia, a rock that imitates the shape of a camel can be discovered, and there is also a rock formation in the south of the US state of Illinois that is reminiscent of a camel.
