Tiger Hill


The 36-meter-tall Huqiu (Tiger Hill) stands outside the lumen Gate to the north west of Suzhou. It is a
popular tourist destination and is known for its natural beauty as well as historical sites.

The hill is so named because it is said to look like a crouching tiger. Another legend states that a white
tiger appeared on the hill to guard it following the burial of King Helu . The hill is sometimes referred to
in parallel with "Lion Mountain", another hill near Suzhou which clearly resembles a sitting lion.

This is the smallest garden in Suzhou, only one tenth the size of Zhouzheng Yuan. It is so small, you
might think that Tiger Hill is actually an artificial hill. It is 36 meters high and is set in a 20-hectare park.

Tiger Hill is a hill in Suzhou, in China. The hill has been a tourist destination for hundreds, if not thousands, of years, as is evident from the poetry
and calligraphy carved into rocks on the hill.

Midway up the hill beside the Qianren (Thousand Men) Rock, there is the rectangular crystal-clear Sword pond flanked by sheer cliffs. It is said that
both Qin Shihuang, the first emperor of Qin Dynasty (221-207 B.C.), and Sun Quan of the Three Kingdoms Period (220-280), had sent people to
search the swords by digging into the hill but no avail. The Sword Pond is believed to result from the digging.

According to records, the door of He Lu's tomb was revealed once when the pond went dry. Archaeologists speculated that the tomb is right below
the Tiger Hill Pagoda. This pagoda, first built in the Five Dynasties Period, is an octagonal seven-storey structure. Since the Ming Dynasty, it started
tilting northwards, which has been supposed to be caused by the tomb's structure.

No wonder it has been an awe-inspiring sight in the area south of the Lower Yangtze. The Yunyan Temple
Pagoda and the Sword Pool are most famous on the hill. With a history going back more than 1,000 years,
the simple, archaic and imposing Yunyan Temple Pagoda, also known as the Second Leaning Tower on
earth, stands aloft at the top of the hill, serving as a symbol of ancient Suzhou for years.