With a history of more than 2,500 years, the Tiger Hill has been known as No. 1 Sight of Suzhou. It is a must for tourists. The great Song literary man Su Dongpo said, It would be a pity if you had been to Suzhou but didn't get to visit the Tiger Hill. As a showcase of Suzhou and one of the first ten exemplary civilized tourist attractions of China, it receives over 1,500,000 Chinese and foreign tourists every year, and has taken over the lead in the tourism industry of Suzhou for ten years running.
Located on the western hill-side and with the pagoda scene as its backdrop, the attractive Mountain Villa with 10,000 Scenes has a collection of the finest specimens of the Suzhou style bonsai. The luxuriant vegetation at the back of the hill, constituting a peculiar climatic zone, has now become the paradise of winged fowls. In the autumnal twilight, thousands of herons wheeling in the air round the pagoda make a tremendous spectacle.
The Tiger Hill is also an important meeting-place for the populace at Suzhou. There used to be 3 fairs and 3 festivals held here every year in olden times. Today the Tiger Hill sees Spring Flower Show and Autumn Temple Fair, two special events a year, becoming a favorite tourist-site. At Spring Flower Show paeonia suffruticosa, tulipa gesneriana, rhododendron simsii & r.spp., lilium spp. and a good number of valuable species of flowers are displayed in competition for beauty. Autumn Temple Fair is the re-creation of the popular Temple Fair of Shantang with a mixture of northern and southern Chinese cultural performances and a strong regional flavor.
Making historic events and landscapes, cultural heritage and natural scenery into one whole, the picturesque Tiger Hill possesses unique charms and is a rare cultural gem of mankind.