Tiger Hill, Suzhou

Tiger Hill is a hill in Suzhou, in China. 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 Helü. The hill is sometimes referred to in parallel with "Lion Mountain", another hill near Suzhou which clearly resembles a sitting lion.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.Its features include:Sword-Testing Rock: a rock in two pieces that was supposedly cleaved cleanly by a legendary sword of extraordinary sharpness;Spring of Simplicity and Honesty: a well that, according to legend, first appeared as a spring to an exhausted monk carrying water up the entire length of the hill;Yunyan Pagoda: a pagoda seven stories in height, known for its lean;Sword Pond (Jianchi): a small rectangular pond, beneath which a treasure of some 3000 swords are believed to have been buried; It is believed that the Wu King Helu was buried next to the lake wall. Efforts of excavating the site was made in the 50s, but it was stopped because the archeologists found the Leaning Pagoda's foundations rest on the site;Lu Yu Well: a well attributed to Lu Yu, author of the first book on tea;Thousand People Rock: a rock-based plaza at the bottom of the leaning tower plaza. Legend says after the burial of Wu King Helu, his son, the successor of the throne, commanded the murder of some thousand craftsmen who were involved in his father's burial in order to conceal the exact location of the grave.Penjing/Bonsai Collection and Museum.