---
node: spot_suzhou_tiger_hill
type: spot
slug: tiger_hill
destination: dest_suzhou
title: "Tiger Hill"
lead: "Tiger Hill is a 36-metre mound northwest of old Suzhou, topped by the leaning Yunyan Pagoda of 961. King Helü of Wu is said to be buried beneath it, in a tomb never opened."
published: 2026-08-12
updated: 2026-08-12
image_file: spot_suzhou_tiger_hill.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2024-Apr_Suzhou_-_Tiger_Hill_Pagoda_%E8%99%8E%E4%B8%98%E5%A1%94_(Huqiu_Ta)_-_img_04.jpg"
image_author: "Chainwit."
image_license: "CC BY 4.0"
---

## Overview

The brick pagoda leans about 2.3 degrees — some three metres out of true — because its foundation sits partly on rock and partly on soil; stabilisation in the 1980s stopped the movement. Below it are the Sword Pool, a cleft of dark water associated with the king's buried swords, and the Thousand People Rock where a monk is said to have preached. Su Shi wrote that to visit Suzhou and not see Tiger Hill is a regret.

## Highlights

The pagoda cannot be climbed but is the reason to come; the lean is obvious from the courtyard below. The Sword Pool inscriptions include one attributed to Yan Zhenqing. The hill is a half-hour from the centre and pairs naturally with a canal boat back down Shantang Street.