Tiger Hill - Explore Suzhou History and Legendary

Tiger Hill Pagoda (Hu Qiu Ta, 虎丘塔)

The millennium-old Tiger Hill Pagoda, also called Cloud Rock Temple Pagoda and standing on the top of Tiger Hill, is the symbol of Suzhou for it can be traced back to 2,500 year ago when Suzhou was founded. As the oldest and largest pagoda in the south area of Yangtze River, it occupies high status in the field of architecture, history and art. The pagoda leans to the north by about 4 degrees. People praised it as The Leaning Tower of Pisa in China. In fact, Tiger Hill Pagoda is constructed earlier and taller than the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Apart from its large scale and long history, the design of Tiger Hill Pagoda also makes it so distinctive. With 7 stories and 8 sides, it is a double-wall bricks pagoda. Many precious cultural relics were found in the interlayer between the two walls and now these relics were exhibited in the Suzhou Museum.

Sword Testing Stone is a split stone in the east path to the top of Tiger Hill. In the history, He Lu is a sword fan and collector. He always ordered his officials to look for the best sword for him. One day, he asked Gan Jiang and Mo Ye who are a couple famous for making sword to cast an extremely sharp sword. In order to test the sharpness of the sword, he thrust the sword to the stone and the stone was split.

Sword Pool (Jianchi, 剑池)

Sword Pool is another landmark of Tiger Hill. Sword Pool shapes like a sword seeing above, so it got such a name. It is also said that there were 3,000 swords buried with He Lu here. Emperor Qinshihuang (秦始皇) in Qin Dynasty and King Sun Quan (孙权) in Three Kingdoms Period both came here for swords. On the stone wall out of the door to Sword Pool is inscribed with four Chinese characters "Hu Qiu Jian Chi" which is the handwriting of famed calligrapher Yan Zhenqin (颜真卿). On the tone wall close to Sword Pool is another two red characters "Jian Chi" which is said to be written by Wang Xizi (王羲之).

Broken Beam Hall (Duan Liang Dian, 断梁殿)

Broken Beam Hall is a single-eave building made by bamboo and wood only. It was constructed in Yuan Dynasty and enjoys a history of over 600 years. The main beam is made up of two sections, reflecting the wisdom and creation of the workers in ancient times. Four stone tablets are perching in the hall which record the construction and restoration of Tiger Hill and Tiger Hill Pagoda. Knocking the tablets slights, you can hear echo. Thus, the tablets are also called Echoing Tablets.

Thousand Men Rock (Qian Ren Shi, 千人石)

Located in the end of the road uphill, Thousand Men Rock is a large rock. According to the legendary, 1,000 workers were gathered in Tiger Hill to build the tomb of He Lu. As they finished their tasks, Fu Chai, the son of He Lu worried that grave robbers would come here if they knew his father was buried here. He came up with trickery. Hu Chai killed all of them and their blood colored the stone into red. Whenever it rains, the rock will turn to deep red till now.

Wanjing Villa (Wan Jing Shan Zhuang, 万景山庄)

Wanjing Villa is an archaistic garden in the southeast piedmont of Tiger Hill. Walking through the big door frame, you can view the vivid and brilliant landscape, flying waterfall, crinkling lake and undulating ridges. Going up along the steps near the lake, a diversity of well-spaced bonsai trees will catch your eyes. Divided into several sections by handrails, the bonsai trees garden has over 500 bonsais. The finest works of bonsais of Suzhou are all displayed here. One bonsai called Ancient Sageretia is the treasure of Wanjing Villa. Regard as the King of Bonsai, it is more than 40 years old and 2,000 kg in weight.

Artistic Flower Show

In Suzhou, what you can't miss is the colorful Tiger Hill when the spring comes. Annual Artistic Flower Show usually takes place from March to May. During this period, Tiger Hill are scattered with sweet-scented flowers. Besides admiring the beauty of flowers, you could also watch the interesting shows like tea-making performance, folk dance and music show. Focusing on different themes, Tiger Hill will be decorated in different styles. Some cartoon figures made by flowers and bamboos are waving their hands to you and the farmers made by straws are carrying a load or pulling a cart. By enjoying the Artistic Flower Show, you will find Tiger Hill is not only beautiful but also interesting.

Autumn Temple Fair

In order to carry forward Suzhou folk culture, bring back the traditional appearance, and exhibit humanistic amorous feelings of Suzhou, Autumn Temple Fair will be held in Tiger Hill periodically (always from September to October). It is the best fair to appreciate folk performance, feel folk culture and taste Suzhou style snacks. The main colors of the temple fair are golden and red, which mean harvest and happiness. When the Autumn Temple Fair takes place, Tiger Hill becomes a bustling place where the northern and southern styles of performing arts with gongs and drums can be seen. Dragon-dancing and lion-dancing are also exciting. In the west side of Broken Beam Hall, there is a food street where you can taste local food like different kinds of pastry.

There are two routes recommended to visit the attractions of Tiger Hill, one route starting in the First Gate of the temple in in south and the other starting in the North Gate Tourist Service Center.

South Touring Route

After entering the First Gate, your first attraction is Broken Beam Temple where you can admire the excellent architectural skills. Then transfer to Hanhan Spring which is said to be sacred spring able to treat disease. After that, turn to Sword Testing Stone, Tomb of Zhenniang, Thousand Man Rock and Sword Pool to explore the old history. The next attraction Tiger Hill Pagoda is the most highlighted part that can't be skipped. With a visit to the Mahavira Temple and the 53 Steps of Stone, go to the Villa with 10000 Scenes to enjoy the bonsai trees.

North Touring Route

Starting from North Gate Tourist Service Center and having a short look at the Shrine of Sun Wu, walk to Garden of Water-side Pavilion. Visit the Broken Beam Hall and the Small Wudang Then. After that, seek for the old story of Thousand Man Stone and the Tomb of Zhenniang. Then, turn to Sword Testing Stone, Broken Beam Hall and leave.

Tiger Hill is located in the northwest of Suzhou City, with a short distance away from some charming gardens in Suzhou.

• 3 km away from Lingering Garden
• 7 km away from Humble Administrator's Garden (Suzhou Museum)
• 7.5 km away from Lion Grove Garden
• 9 km away from Master of the Nets Garden

Independent Travel

By Metro: You can take metro Line 4 to Sujin Station (苏锦站, about 2.3 km to Tiger Hill) or Line 3 to Shantangjie Station (山塘街站，about 2.5 km to Tiger Hill) first, and then take a public bus to Tiger Hill.

By Bus: There are many pulbic buses running to to Tiger Hill directly, but it takes longer time.

Generally, a classic Suzhou tour takes about 1~2 days. Visiting Suzhou, you can't miss elegant Suzhou gardens, like Humble Administrator's Garden, Lingering Garden, Master of the Nets Garden, etc. You can choose one or two of them for a great garden delight. Other must-be-visited sights in Suzhou City include Suzhou No.1 Silk Factory from which you can watch the process of silk making from silkworms to elegant products, Tiger Hill which is known as the first sight in Suzhou, Suzhou Museum which is designed by I. M. Pei and Suzhou's old canalside roads (like Pingjaing Road and Shantang Street), etc. If you like Jiangnan watertowns, you can visit Tongli, Zhouzhuang or Luzhi to have a wonderful time.

☛ 1 Day Suzhou City Highlights Tour
☛ 1 Day Suzhou Zhouzhuang Tour
☛ 2 Days Best Suzhou & Tongli Water Village Tour

If you want to explore more about Jiangsu Province, you can travel to Nanjing - the old capital city of 6 ancient dynasties, Wuxi - a beautiful lakeshore city, Yangzhou - old culture center of southern China, etc. Check more about Jiangsu Tours>

☛ 5 Days Jiangsu Tour (Suzhou, Wuxi & Nanjing)

In fact, most people travel Suzhou with Shanghai - the best gateway city to Suzhou, and Hangzhou which has long been on a par with Suzhou since ancient times. Generally, it needs 2~3 days enjoying Shanghai's highlights and another 2~3 days appreciating the poetic beauty. Check more about Shanghai Suzhou Hangzhou Tours>

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Since 2012, we have helped numerous customers visit Suzhou and surroundings. With our fully-inclusive private tour packages, all of our customers enjoyed their trips to the exquisite gardens, peaceful watertowns, informative silk factory or museum, old Suzhou streets, etc. Some of them kindly shared their precious photos and stories about their Suzhou journey, just get inspired now.

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