Tiger Hill Pagoda, Pagoda in Suzhou, China

Tiger Hill Pagoda, also called Yunyan Pagoda, is a seven-storey octagonal brick-and-stone tower on Tiger Hill in Suzhou. It stands 47 metres tall, with arched doorways and windows on each level and bands of grey brick and lighter stone dividing the storeys. The exterior shows weathered grey brick with patches of pale render, and a low wall with a dark metal gate surrounds the base.

The Yunyan Temple, founded in 327 as a gift from the Wang brothers, was destroyed in 845 and rebuilt on Tiger Hill. The pagoda itself was begun in 907 under the Wuyue kings and finished in 961, as a stone casket found in 1957 records. Its top storeys were added between 1628 and 1644 under the Chongzhen Emperor.

The pagoda is the surviving main structure of Yunyan Temple, founded in 327 as a donation by the brothers Wang Xun and Wang Min, who gave their villa for the purpose. The temple was destroyed under the Huichang persecution of 845 and rebuilt on the hilltop. The name Yunyan comes from the temple; locals call the tower Huqiu ta, after Tiger Hill.

Public access to the top of the pagoda has been closed since September 2010. From the paths of Tiger Hill Park you can still see the lean: the top and bottom of the tower differ by 2.32 meters. The low brick wall and dark metal gate at the base stand below the seven storeys.

The lean comes from a foundation that was half rock and half soil. In 1957, concrete was pumped into the ground to stop further tilting, and workers found a stone casket holding Buddhist scriptures; its inscription gives the completion date as the 17th day of the 12th lunar month of the 2nd year of the Jianlong era (961).