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.