狮子林 · Shīzi Lín
Lion Grove Garden
The garden you climb into: a maze of stone lions.
Why visit
- A rockery labyrinth of Lake Tai stone, with 21 entrances and 9 paths to get lost in
- Weathered rocks shaped like lions, sleeping, playful, mother and cub, hidden through the garden
- So loved by the Qianlong Emperor that he built copies at the Summer Palace and Chengde
- Once owned by the family of architect I.M. Pei, who played here as a boy
- The one Suzhou garden where the grown-ups have as much fun as the children
- Ticket
- from ¥30
- Opening hours
- 07:30–17:30
- Time needed
- 1.5–2 hours
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Best time
- Spring (magnolias, crabapple, wisteria)
- Rating
- AAAA · UNESCO World Heritage
- Address
- No. 23 Yuanlin Road (Garden Road), Gusu District, Suzhou, Jiangsu
Overview
Lion Grove is the Suzhou garden you don't just look at, you climb into. Its heart is a rockery labyrinth of Lake Tai stones, piled into a maze of caves, tunnels and little peaks that you scramble through, duck under and get happily lost in. There are twenty-one entrances and nine paths, and every time round you find a corner you missed.
The stones are shaped, if you look, like lions: sleeping, playful, mother and cub. Hunting them down is half the fun, and it's the one garden in Suzhou where the grown-ups end up more delighted than the children.
For all the scrambling, it's a calm water garden too. Clear pools wrap around the rockery, koi drift under the bridges, and you can buy a handful of food to feed them from the lakeside walkway. Pavilions sit right at the water's edge; step out of the maze into one of them, watch the breeze move through the old trees, and the city falls away.
It has famous admirers. The Qianlong Emperor loved it so much he came six times and built copies of it up north. And it belonged, in the last century, to the family of I.M. Pei, the architect who played here as a boy and, decades later, designed the Suzhou Museum right next door.
Come early or after three, when the tour groups thin out, and wear shoes that grip. Then take your time getting lost.
History & cultural significance
Lion Grove was laid out in 1342, in the Yuan dynasty, by the Buddhist monk Tianru in memory of his teacher, the Zen master Zhongfeng. The monk had studied at Lion Cliff on West Tianmu Mountain, and the garden's weathered Lake Tai rocks, many shaped like lions, gave it both its name and its Buddhist meaning.
The Qing emperor Qianlong visited six times and inscribed its plaques, and admired it enough to build imitations at the Summer Palace in Beijing and at Chengde. In 1917 the garden was bought by the Bei family, whose grandson was the architect I.M. Pei, and restored over the following years. It was inscribed by UNESCO in 1997 among the Classical Gardens of Suzhou.
What to see
The Rockery Maze
The reason to come. A whole hillside of Lake Tai stone piled into a labyrinth of caves, tunnels and little summits, with twenty-one ways in and nine paths through. You don't tour it, you play it: duck through the caves, climb to Woyunshi at the top, and expect to lose your bearings, happily. Half an hour disappears in here without your noticing.
Nine Lions Peak (九狮峰)
The garden's grandest rock, a towering cluster of weathered Taihu stone in which, with a little imagination, nine lions can be picked out. Shoot it from below in the soft early light, before the crowds arrive.
Yanyu Hall (燕誉堂) and its moon gate
The main hall, opening through a round moon gate that frames the courtyard beyond. In spring the crabapple blooms and white wisteria hangs over it, the prettiest framed view in the garden.
The Stone Boat (石舫)
A stone-built dry boat moored at the edge of the pond, the only one of its kind in a Jiangnan garden. Its reflection is at its best when the water goes still in the late afternoon.
Zhenqu Pavilion (真趣亭)
A small waterside pavilion whose name, meaning true delight, was written by the Qianlong Emperor himself on one of his six visits. A reminder of how far the garden's fame once reached.
The hidden stone lions
Half the fun of Lion Grove is the hunt. Scattered through the rockery are stones carved or weathered into lions: sleeping, playful, gazing, a mother with her cub, and at Lixuetang a carving of a lion catching a shrimp. Find a few and you've truly seen the garden.
Plan your visit
Difficulty
Moderate
Steady pace with some stairs or uneven ground.
Best time to visit
Lion Grove is good year-round, but spring is loveliest. In early spring the white magnolias flower, two old trees inside the garden that photographers time their visit around, followed by the crabapple at Yanyu Hall and white wisteria over the courtyards.
Whenever you come, time it around the crowds. Tour groups pack the narrow rockery after ten on weekends, so arrive at the 7:30 opening or come after three, when the maze empties out and you can wander it in peace.
Tickets & entry
- Admission
- ¥40· Peak season (Apr–Oct)
- ¥30· Off-peak (Nov–Mar)
- Half price· Students· with valid ID
- Hours
- Apr–Oct07:30–17:30
- Nov–Mar07:30–17:00
- Address
- No. 23 Yuanlin Road (Garden Road), Gusu District, Suzhou, Jiangsu
- Closed
- Open daily, year-round
- Reservation
- Reservation required; book real-name in advance, and bring your passport for entry. Free with a Suzhou Garden Card.
- Typical visit
- 1.5–2 hours
Getting there
Entrance: The single entrance is on Yuanlin Road, in the north-east of the old town. The garden is small and easy to read: halls and a pond in the west and north, and the great rockery filling the south-east corner. It sits five minutes from both the Humble Administrator's Garden and the Suzhou Museum, so most people see all three together.
- Metro Line 6 to Zhuozhengyuan · Suzhou Museum Station, Exit 2, then a short walk (the same station as the Humble Administrator's Garden)
- Metro Line 1 to Lindun Road Station, Exit 3, then about 600 m
- A 5-minute walk from the Humble Administrator's Garden and the Suzhou Museum
Take the metro. Line 1 to Lindun Road Station, Exit 3, then about a 600 metre walk. Tourist Bus 1 or 5 stops at the Suzhou Museum, 300 metres away.
Best of all, walk: Lion Grove is five minutes from the Humble Administrator's Garden and the Suzhou Museum, and the three make a natural morning together. From Shanghai it's about 30 minutes by high-speed train, then the metro.
Map
View larger map · © OpenStreetMap contributors
Suggested route
Start at Yanyu Hall, for the crabapple framed in its moon gate, then find the Nine Lions Peak, the finest cluster of Lake Tai rocks in the garden. Now give yourself over to the rockery maze: crawl the caves, climb to Woyunshi at the top, and don't worry about a route, that's the point.
When you surface, take in the Stone Boat, the only dry boat in a Jiangnan garden, and the Zhenqu Pavilion, whose name was written by the Qianlong Emperor. Finish at the Xiuzhu Pavilion among the bamboo, and at Lixuetang, where a carving hides a lion catching a shrimp. Allow about half an hour just for the maze.
Local tips
What to bring: Non-slip shoes above all. Centuries of feet have polished the rockery steps smooth, and they're slippery. Bring your passport for entry, and water. A word on the maze: some cave entrances are narrow and low, so you'll be bending and squeezing. Keep bags small and, if you're in Hanfu, a waist-length style and a low hair bun make the caves much easier. Light or bright colours read beautifully against the grey stone. Families, take heart: the rest of the garden is flat and easy, with clean paths a stroller can manage. Only the rockery maze has the steps and tight caves, so you can enjoy the lake, the koi and the halls even if you skip the deepest tunnels.
Photography spots: In early spring the white magnolias are the shot everyone comes for: frame a flowering branch through the curved eaves, or through the round Tongyou Gate and its flower window, and shoot low from a corner on a sunny day. The Nine Lions Peak from below, in soft early light. The whole rockery from above, shot down from one of the high pavilions. The white wisteria at Yanyu Hall, framed through the moon gate. The Stone Boat and its reflection, when the water is calmest around four. And the bamboo past the lattice window of the Xiuzhu Pavilion.
Nearby
Restaurants
- Su Ya Xing, Wenren Suzhou Noodles by the Suzhou Museum, for the squirrel mandarin fish
- Pingjiang Road tea houses and street snacks, a short walk east
FAQ
Its rockery maze: a labyrinth of Lake Tai stone shaped like lions, with twenty-one entrances and nine winding paths to explore. It is one of the four great classical gardens of Suzhou, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the most playful garden in the city.
About an hour and a half to two hours, with roughly half an hour of that lost in the rockery maze.
40 yuan, half price for students; reservation is required, so book in advance.
Take Metro Line 1 to Lindun Road Station, Exit 3, then walk about 600 metres. It is also a five-minute walk from the Humble Administrator's Garden and the Suzhou Museum, so most visitors see all three together.
Very. Children love scrambling through the rockery caves and tunnels. Note that some entrances are narrow and low, so there is plenty of bending and squeezing, and the worn stone steps are slippery, so wear shoes with grip.
The garden was bought by the Bei family in 1917, and the architect I.M. Pei, who later designed the Louvre pyramid and the Suzhou Museum next door, spent childhood summers here.
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