- Location: Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province

Yunyan Temple Pagoda (苏州云岩寺塔), also called Huqiu Pagoda, stands on Huqiu Hill in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. It has become a landmark of the city. More than a thousand years old, the pagoda is the earliest, most magnificent and most exquisite pagoda of the Song Dynasty.

Construction of the pagoda began in 959 at the end of the Five Dynasties and was completed in 961 at the beginning of the Northern Song Dynasty. The interior of the pagoda is like a vertical tube with a winding corridor along the inside walls. The hallow-tube style of the pagoda represents pre-Tang Dynasty architecture while other methods used in the construction of this pagoda indicate a transitional style between the Tang and Song dynasties. Huqiu Pagoda, though a brick building, was modeled after wooden structures using a variety of construction methods.

The seventh story, once severely damaged, was restored during the Ming Dynasty. Today the pagoda leans to one side, but the base of the pagoda has been reinforced and the slant was prevented from becoming more serious. Still leaning but standing firm, the Yunyan Temple Pagoda, a miracle of China, is over one hundred years older than the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy.

Travel Tips:

- Hours: 7 a.m. - 6 p.m.

- Admission: 60 yuan (Apr 16 – Oct 30);

                       40 yuan (Oct 31 – Apr 15)

- How to get there:

             - North Gate: bus No.32

             - South Gate: tourist bus No.1, 2, 949, 146, 816

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