Huqiu
(Tiger Hill)
 Many of my college friends told me this after they visited Suzhou:"Your hometown is nice. Those gardens are beautiful. But, don't you think they are too similar to each other?" I didn't argued with them because I understood why they felt like this. Usually they only had a couple of days staying in Suzhou, but there are at least 10 places worth visiting. So they just went through all these places as fast as they could. In that case, it's really difficult to tell the differences.
All the gardens in Suzhou are typical south Changjiang River style. They have curled-roof pavilions, winding corridors with floral windows, man-made ponds with goldfishes and lotus flowers and fancy-shaped Tai Lake Rockeries. They have their own unique features, but it takes more than one visit to notice them.

ZhouZhengYuan
(Humble Administrator's Garden)
The largest garden in Suzhou is the Humble Administrator's Garden. There is a lake inside the garden. Between the entrance and the lake,the designer built a wall with floral windows. So you can "see" the lake as soon as you enter the garden but not the entire scene until you walk throung the moon shaped door on the wall.
A lot of people think Humble Administrator's Garden is the best garden in Suzhou. Surely it has more space than any other gardens thus more space for creation and imagination. But the one I like most is the Garden of Master of Nets. It's a small garden and is very exiquitive. It locates in the southeast side of Suzhou city, only one block away from my high school. I

WangShiYuan
(Master of Nets)
 used to go there with my best friends every week. We would read books beside the ponds, run through all those paved winding walkways or read the old poems carved in stones on the wall. I love the designing of the garden-- it manages to creat a bondless scene even in the smallest yard.

Perhaps the most interesting garden in Suzhou is the Lion Grove, I loved it when I was a kid. There is a "mountain" in the garden made of rockeries. Inside the mountain, it is a labyrinth. I remember one of my cousin was once "trapped" in a cave half-filled with water. He just walked into the cave and found his leg was wet. That was a lot of fun.


ShiZiLin
(Lion Grove Garden)
 The oldest garden in Suzhou is the Wave Pavilion, dating back to the Song Dynasty. The garden is surrounded by a river. There is a corridor built along the wall leading to a pavilion on the water. I guess that's how the garden was named. The large courtyard inside the garden filled with Bamboo is my favorite. When wind blows, the sound of bamboo always makes me happy.

CangLangTing
(Wave Pavilion)
 The Tiger Hill is the symbol of Suzhou. You will see the sign of it on many products made in Suzhou. The legends said that before the city was built, the hill is the only land in that area. It has the shape of a tiger, thus its name. The most famous sight on Tiger Hill is the Yunyan Pagoda, it's a leaning tower (the angle of leaning is 15 degree!). Other sights include: The Sword pond, it is said that King Helu was burried under the pond with his treasure swords; The One-thousand-man rock, it's a large one-piece rock said tobe able to hold 1000 people; The Head-nodding stone, the story says that one day a monk was giving a speech and the stone( it has the shape of a man) nodded its "head" because the monk was so good at speech.

HanShanSi
(Temple of Cold Mountain)

There are many temples in Suzhou. Among them, the Cold Mountain Temple is the most famous. It is built in 502-519 A.D., by two monks named Hanshan(Cold Mountain) and Shide. Inside the temple, there is a Grand Hall, a Four-heavenly-king Hall and the famous Bell -- it is said that when the bell rang, half of the city could hear it.
In the west side of the city, near Tiger Hill, there is the West Garden temple. The temple is known for its 500-Arhats Hall, featuring 500 different gilded Arhats, each has unique appearance.


GongQiao
(Moon-arch Bridge)

Besides sightseeing in Gardens and temples, there are many bridges worth seeing around the city. The most famous one is the Treasure Belt Bridge. It has 53 semicircular openings. The best time to see it is on the 15th of August of Chinese lunar calendar. When the moon is full, you will see 53 images of moon in the water. The total number of bridges in Suzhou was 396 in Tang Dynasty. I am sure there are more than 400 bridges in Suzhou now. That's why somebody call Suzhou the Oriental Venice.