Suzhou Highlight Half-Day Tour

In the morning, you will be picked up from the lobby of your centrally located Suzhou hotel or Suzhou railway station, and visit Humble Administration Garden which was originally built in 1509 during Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). It was initially a private garden of a former government official named Wang Xianchen. He intended to build a garden after retirement, which was said to be the life of a humble man, hence is the name of the garden. The garden was created upon the old site of a resident and a temple. Water is featured throughout the garden along with natural landscapes of small forests, hills and rock formations. It also has man-made pavilions, halls and parlors. Unlike the Grand View Garden and other famous gardens in Beijing, it is representative of the Ming Dynasty style.

Next, you will be transferred to visit Tiger Hill. Tiger Hill is a hill in Suzhou, 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 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. 

You will also visit Tiger Hill Pagoda which stands on top of the hill where Yunyan Temple is. As the oldest pagoda in the vicinity of Suzhou, it has come to be a symbol of the city and has the distinction of being China's Leaning Tower. Built during Northern Song Dynasty (959-961), it is a seven-story octahedron after the style of the timber pagodas built during early Tang period. After Tiger Hill, you will continue to visit a Silk Factory.

Suzhou’s silk gained a worldwide reputation from as early as Tang and Song dynasties (618-1279). Suzhou is surrounded by mulberry fields and abounds in natural gifts, abundant sunshine, plentiful rainfall and rich soils, which offer a pleasant environment for rich cocoons and high qualities of silk. It has been the main producing area and the center of collecting and distribution hub of raw silk materials in China. You will have lunch at a local restaurant and then taken back to your hotel or Suzhou railway station.