Tiger Hill

Tiger Hill is a popular tourist attraction in Suzhou, China. The poet, Su Dongpo, a well-know poet of Northern Dynasty, left this praise about Tiger Hill: It’s a great pity if one comes to Suzhou without visiting Huqiu (Tiger Hill). From the plaque at the entrance, which reads in part… “The place attributes its reputation to dozens of different-shaped hills and rocks as well as vibrant springs and woods. Every corner of it is suitable for making poems. According to historical records, Fuchai, Emperor of Wu State during the Spring and Autumn Period buried his father Helu in here. It was legendarily said that three days after burial, a white tiger was seen to be crouching on the tomb, hence the name Tiger Hill…”

…” The area enjoys a cultural history of over 2,500 years. The thousand-year old pagoda, shooting high into the clouds, is a symbol of Suzhou the famous historical and cultural city.

The day we visited was a holiday, so the park was really crowded. Would really like to come early on a weekday and see if I can get more pictures without people. Hope you enjoy it.

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My lovely wife at the entrance of Tiger Hill. The main pagoda can be seen in the distance.

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Throughout the park you can see many beautiful flower arrangements; here is one example.

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The park has a canal that seems to circle it. The boats you see are for rent, but decided to wait until the girls visit in May.

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I think the girls will like to go on one of these.

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Detail from one of the many stone carvings adorning a bridge in the park. It does not look old, but liked it anyways.

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See the little lions on top of the bridge pillars? The previous picture was taken while on the bridge.

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The flower arrangements were really beautiful. This is a fine example; the color is just the way it was.

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The leaning tower of Pisa. Actually it should be called that since this pagoda predates the tower of Pisa in Italy by many centuries. This pagoda was built-in 957 A.D. That makes it 1054 years old so over time the pagoda started to lean. Its lean is now 3 degrees, but should slow since a few years back the government reinforced the foundation.

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The park has many hills and levels. I can imagine myself 600 years ago walking around it and having a quiet time. Ah, sounds great!. If it is beautiful today, I think it would have been 10 times nicer then.

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A different angle of view of Huqiu Tower.

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A closeup of the tower. As you can see the brick work looks good for such an old structure. They used to allow visitors inside, but it was closed a few years back after they did preventive work to stop the tower from leaning. Hope it works.

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From one of the many terraces you can see many fine examples of the architecture of the time.

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We really like this round openings.

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Just a nice spot we liked.

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My wife probably thinking she is glad she does not have to take care of the grounds. I certainly am.

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We did not take a boat ride, but we did take a horse-drawn carriage around a portion of the park. This view is from that ride and it overlooks some really nice private home backyards.

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