Lion Grove Garden takes its name from the rocks that dominate it. The central feature is an extraordinary rockery of Lake Tai limestone — a kind of porous, weathered rock considered the finest garden stone in China — piled into an elaborate maze of caves, tunnels, bridges, and passages on several levels. You can walk through and under the rocks for a surprisingly long time, emerging at different heights and viewpoints. Children find it irresistible; adults are meant to contemplate the landscape as if hiking through mountain terrain in miniature.
The garden was created during the Yuan dynasty in the 14th century by a Buddhist monk as a tribute to his teacher, and served as a monastery for several centuries before becoming a private garden in the Qing dynasty. It was owned at various points by the Pei family — the same family that produced I.M. Pei, who spent time playing in the rockery as a child. The garden was significantly restored in the 20th century and is now one of the four classical gardens of Suzhou with UNESCO World Heritage status.