In Suzhou: The Tiger Hill, Leaning Tower and Pisa

Accompanied by our couple housemates, we went to visit Suzhou City last Saturday. We left the house at around 9:00 in the morning, took a bus from Kunshan Central Bus terminal (which I thought was an airport) to Suzhou. From there we parted ways. While the couple went off to shop for wedding dress, my wife and I went to Tiger Hill Park.

Tiger Hill (or Huqiu Mountain) has an altitude of 34.3 meters and covers a total area of 21.3 hectares (but of course, we weren’t able to measure the whole place.). The hill consists of several sights which includes the Sword Testing Stone, the Sword Pond, the Great Buddha Temple and Zhen Niang Tomb among many. On top of the hill stands a thousand-year old, 48 meters high leaning Pagoda which is dubbed as the historic and cultural symbol of the Suzhou.

According to history, the Emperor of Wu State buried his father in this hill during the Spring and Autumn period (770 – 476 BC) and legends has it that a white tiger was seen crouching on the tomb three days after the burial. From hence, the place got its name Huqiu (Tiger Hill).

According to history, King He Lu who was a collector of rare swords used to test them upon this stone. The crevice on the huge one is one proof.

Rumor has it that the builders of the pagoda were slaughtered here upon completion of the project.

It is believed that King He Lu’s swords were buried deep within this Sword Pond as funerary objects.

This is the tomb of Zhen Niang, a righteous girl who took her life rather than be dishonored.

Sources: China Through A Lens, Deccan Herald, Travel China Guide

Being natural nit-pickers, my wife and I poked fun at the guide signs while traversing the peaks and twirly paths within the park. We went berserk upon noticing this “omnivorous” inscriptions: