Tea picking and temple viewing at Tiger Hill.
After a morning filled with gardens, we went to Tiger Hill, to see the Pagoda of Yunyan Temple. As the oldest pagoda in the vicinity of Suzhou it has come to be a focal point of the town. It was built during the Northern Song Dynasty (959-961) and has a seven-story octahedron after the style of the timber pagodas built during the Tang period.
The tower itself is leaning slightly and has thus been compared to the leaning tower of Pisa, but to be fair to either of them, they do have their individual charm and other than their angle are not really comparable. On the way back down from the tower we passed a sign directing us to ‘Clouds filled with the scent of tea‘ (you have to to love Chinese romanticism). Obviously couldn’t resist to ind out what it was and stumbled upon a tea plantation in which people were picking fresh tea leaves; presumably to take back home and enjoy. Tea is actually a Camellia sinensis plant species whose leaves and leaf buds are used to produce the tea. It is a Camellia genus of the flowering plant family Theaceae. It is native to Asia and produces white, green, oolong and black tea (they are all collected from the same species, but are processed differently to attain different levels of oxidation).
After indulging in a bit of tea picking ourselves, I watched a lady dry out the fresh tea leaves in a special apparatus. The tea leaves are swirled and mixed around in the container which is heated from below. In the picture you can see the fresh tea and the end result on the ground on the right hand side. It was really fascinating watching her, as the bowl is actually very hot which makes the drying technique a real art.
The day was rounded off by a boat trip on the canals back to the old part of town and back to our hotel. the boat trip was scenic yet rather interesting as it provided for a (very small) glimpse of how some people in Suzhou live. I think from this it is feasible to call it the Venice of the East.
One Response to “Tiger Hill – Suzhou”
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Hi there
Finally have some time to come up to the surface for air and to look at your blog for updates. Seem you are having a good time!