Day 2（27.05.2014）Tuesday
Morning: School Immersion at Suzhou industrial Park Xinggang School 苏州工业园区星港学校
Afternoon: Tiger Hill 虎丘 / Hanshan Temple 寒山寺
Evening: Overnight in Suzhou International Conference Hotel 苏州会议中心酒店
Breakfast
Lunch
Tiger Hill 虎丘
Tiger Hill (Hu Qiu) is the most famous sight of Suzhou, with old trees and cultural relics everywhere – the Sword Testing Stone, the Broken Beam Hall, the Thousand Men Rock, the Sword Pond, etc. The millennium-old Yunyan Pagoda, also known as the Leaning Tower, stands on top of the hill and is regarded as the symbol of Suzhou. “It’s a pity of a lifetime if you have been to Suzhou but missed the Tiger Hill,” said Su Shi, the Song Poet. Tiger Hill is 36 meters high and is set in a 20-hectare park. Near the top of the hill is the burial place of the founding father of Suzhou, King He Lu, who died in 600 B.C. It was said that a white tiger occasionally appeared to guard the tomb; hence the name for the hill.
被誉为”吴中第一名胜”的虎丘，占地约20公顷，山体为距今1.5亿年的中生代侏罗纪时代喷发的岩浆凝结而成的流纹岩。远古时代，虎丘曾是海湾中的一座随着海潮时隐时现的小岛，历经沧海桑田的变迁，最终从海中涌出，成为孤立在平地上的山丘，人们便称它为海涌山。如今虎丘虽已远离大海，人们依然能感受到海的踪影，海的信息。
Hanshan Temple 寒山寺
Hanshan Temple, literally “Cold Mountain Temple”, is a Buddhist temple and monastery in Suzhou, China. It is located at the town of Fengqiao (lit. Maple Bridge), about 5 kilometres west of the old city of Suzhou. Traditionally, Hanshan Temple is believed to have been founded during the Tianjian era (502–519) of the reign of Emperor Wu of Liang, in the Southern and Northern Dynasties period. The current name of the monastery derives from Hanshan, the legendary monk and poet. Hanshan and his disciple Shide are said to have come to the monastery during the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang (627–649), where Hanshan became the abbot.
The Bell
Two bells are currently used at Hanshan Temple, both dating from the late Qing Dynasty when the temple was last rebuilt. One was forged in China in 1906, and the other was forged in Japan at around the same time. The dedication on the bell was written by Japanese Prime Minister Itō Hirobumi. The original Tang Dynasty bell is believed by some (including Itō Hirobumi and modern Chinese statesman Kang Youwei) to have been taken to Japan in ancient times. These two factors have roused some nationalistic controversy among Chinese and Koreans (see, for example, this opinion).
A new 108 tonne bell commissioned by Hanshan Temple and built by a foundry in Wuhan was completed recently, and is on its way to Hanshan Temple to replace the hundred years old Japanese built bell. The new bell is 8.5 metres high and 5.2 metres in diameter at its widest.
The Famous Poem
Hanshan Temple is famed in East Asia because of the poem “A Night Mooring by Maple Bridge” (枫桥夜泊), by Tang Dynasty poet, Zhang Ji. The poem describes the melancholy scene of a dejected traveller, moored at night at
Fengqiao, hearing the bells of Hanshan Temple:
月落乌啼霜满天，江枫渔火对愁眠。
姑苏城外寒山寺，夜半钟声到客船。
寒山寺在蘇州城西閶門外5公里外的楓橋鎮，建於六朝時期的梁代天監年間（西元502-519年），距今已有1400多年。原名“妙利普明塔院”。唐代貞觀年間，傳説當時的名僧寒山和拾得曾由天台山來此住持，改名寒山寺。1000多年內寒山寺先後5次遭到火毀（一説是7次），最後一次重建是清代光緒年間。歷史上寒山寺曾是我國十大名寺之一。寺內古跡甚多，有張繼詩的石刻碑文，寒山、拾得的石刻像，文徵明、唐寅所書碑文殘片等。寺內主要建築有大雄寶殿、廡殿（偏殿）、藏經樓、碑廊、鐘樓、楓江樓等。
Dinner
