Tiger Hill is located in the northwest of the ancient city of Suzhou, although it is a hill with an altitude of only 34.3 meters and an area of about 20 hectares, it is known as the "No. 1 Mountain in Wuzhong". Its original name was Haiyong Mountain, according to legend, Wu Wang Lu (the father of Wu Wangfucha) was buried here, and then there was a white tiger squatting on it and was renamed Tiger Hill, but there are many ancients who thought that Tiger Hill was named because it resembled a squatting tiger. In any case, Tiger Hill has been a leisure mecca for Suzhou people since ancient times, and it is very lively during the New Year's holidays, which is recorded in the poems of literati in the past dynasties. In order to facilitate the water and land transportation in Suzhou, Bai Juyi organized the excavation of the Shantang River from Tiger Hill in the west to Changmen in the east, which shows the popularity of Tiger Hill at that time. Nowadays, many media often use Su Shi's "If you have tasted Gusu, you don't visit Tiger Hill, and you don't know Lu Hill, it's a matter of two debts", but its original intention was to use Tiger Hill's fame to paste the Lingnan Taishou Luqiu Gongxian at that time, which was very different from "not a good man if you don't go to the Great Wall".

Tiger Hill has a long history and many cultural landscapes. The most famous are the Tiger Hill Pagoda and the Sword Pond. Other popular attractions include the Tomb of the True Mother, the Sword Test Stone, and the Thousand People Stone.

Tiger Hill Tower

Tiger Hill Pagoda was built in the sixth year of Zhou Xiande (959) after five generations, and was completed two years later, and has a history of more than 1,000 years. Tiger Hill Pagoda is 47.7 meters high and is the most conspicuous presence in the entire Tiger Hill Mountain. In the past, people who wanted to visit Tiger Hill could see the tower before they even arrived in Suzhou before going up the mountain, so the folk have always had the saying of "seeing Tiger Hill Tower first, seeing Suzhou City later", and Tiger Hill Tower has also become a symbol of the ancient city of Suzhou. Although it has suffered many fires in its history, it has stood for many years, but the structure of the brick and wooden eaves also determines that the wooden eaves on top of it have been damaged and rebuilt many times.

The biggest reason why Tiger Hill Tower can be famous in the country and even the world is not because of its long history, but because of its title of "Leaning Tower of Pisa in China". Unlike the Leaning Tower of Pisa, which gradually tilted five years after the construction began (1178), the Tiger Hill Tower began to tilt to the northwest at the end of the Ming Dynasty, more than 600 years after its completion. The center of the top of the tower is now about 2.3 meters away from the center of the bottom, and the maximum inclination is 3 ゚59'. In 1956, in order to protect the Tiger Hill Tower, the relevant departments strengthened and repaired it by means of iron hoop grouting.

The tower has seven levels and eight sides, and there is a door on each side. There are eight outer piers and four inner piers as supports, and at the same time there are two layers of tower walls, as if the big tower covers the small tower. The tower is composed of an outer pier, a cloister, an inner pier and a tower chamber, which has an obvious Tang and Song dynasty architectural style. Due to the protection of the Tiger Hill Tower, tourists are now prohibited from climbing the tower, which is also different from the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Sword Pool

If visitors look at the pond from the bridge, its sword-like shape is indeed worthy of the name of the sword pond. Sword Pond can become a popular attraction in Tiger Hill, and its various historical legends have contributed to it, but it is extremely difficult to verify. The most widely circulated saying is that the king of Wu was buried at the bottom of the pond that year, because there were 3,000 swords of flat Zhu and fish intestines in the tomb. Historically, many literati have visited here, and there are many famous calligraphers such as Mi Fu's "Wind Gully Cloud Spring" and Zhou Boqi's "Sword Pool".

Interestingly, the sword pond has been drained in recent years, and there is a triangular mouth at the north end of the bottom, which is commonly known as the entrance to the tomb of the people. The mouth is blocked by three rectangular stone slabs, which are indeed distinctly different from the rocks around the pool walls. However, in order to protect the adjacent Tiger Hill Tower, the relevant departments have not carried out relevant excavation work so far.

Tomb of the real mother

The real mother's name is Hu Ruizhen, who is as famous as the famous Chinese prostitute Su Xiaoxiao, and is known as the "fragrant soul". In her early years, her parents died, and Zhenniang fled to Suzhou with her relatives during the Anshi Rebellion, but unfortunately ended up in the Qinglou. Although she is a woman in a green house, she is a real lady who does not sell her body, and her beauty is famous in Suzhou. At that time, Wang Mengxiang, a rich child who was a little upright, wanted to marry her, but the real mother refused on the grounds that she had been married at a young age. Wang Mengxiang later bought the bustard with a lot of money and wanted to stay at the real mother's place, and the real mother committed suicide in order to protect her chastity. Wang Yinxiang was shocked when he learned about it, buried him in Tiger Hill, and vowed never to marry again. For example, the famous poets Bai Juyi, Liu Yuxi, and Li Shangyin respectively created "The Tomb of the True Mother", "The Tomb of the True Lady with the Title of Lotte", and "The Tomb of the True Lady with the Title of the People". Today's Zhenniang Tomb was built in 1745 and rebuilt by Hailing literati Chen Tiepo after finding a fragment of a tombstone while visiting Tiger Hill. In order to protect the tombstone, Chen Tiepo added a small pavilion. Today's Zhenniang tomb is relatively tidy, which shows that the restoration and protection of the scenic spot are in place.

Sword test stone

The stone is named as if it had been split by a sword. First, it is said that after King Wu Lu got the "Mo Evil" sword offered by the cadre, he swung the sword and split the stone here; The second is that Qin Shi Huang excavated and obtained the sword of Bian Zhu and fish intestines in the tomb of Helu, and tried the sword here. In fact, the stone is a compacted and consolidated volcaniclastic rock that has been split in half after years of weathering.

Information Reference

Tickets:

60 yuan/person (April 16 ~ October 30)

40 yuan/person (October 31 ~ April 15 of the following year)

Opening hours: 7:30-17:30 (May 1-October 7); 7:30-17:00 (October 8-April 30)