A trip to appreciate lotus·Guozhuang

A good place to enjoy lotuses in Hangzhou is Guozhuang, also known as Fenyang Villa. The lotus viewing season is the most popular season in Guozhuang every year. Guozhuang was once a private villa, located on the bank of the West Lake, adjacent to Huagang Park and Quyuan Fenghe. It was destined to have extraordinary taste like a princess.

Guozhuang was built by Song Duanfu, a silk merchant in the Qing Dynasty in 1907. Later, it was sold to Guo Shilin and renamed "Fenyang Villa". Hangzhou people used to call it Guozhuang. It is the private garden with the most Jiangnan classical garden characteristics in Hangzhou.

This is the "quiet and quiet" patio where the owner lives, and it is now filled with potted lotus plants.

The season of lotuses in full bloom delights photography enthusiasts.

I don’t know if it frightened the lotus leaves and flowers, but I couldn’t stop taking pictures of them.

When entering Jingbiju, the first thing you see is the owner’s living room, where merchants and scholars once gathered. Today's decorations are just like those of the Guo family in the past, but during the lotus season, the fragrance of lotus overflows, especially the potted flowers, which are very elegant.

A TV station is interviewing florists. The spotlight flickered.

Passing through the spacious living room is a large patio, full of scattered lotus flowers.

Arrange some hydrangeas, coneflowers, and golden leaves at intervals, which is very pleasing to the eye.

What we chose was a rainy day. Among the green lotus leaves, there were small chrysanthemums, stone grass and pebbles, and the heels were wrapped around each other. It was so wet and beautiful.

I like to enjoy lotuses on rainy days. It rained all the time, so I stood on the patio and stared: the towering lotus leaves were like green oil-paper umbrellas blown over by the wind. Water like sparkling white crystals is stored in the center of the lotus leaf. It is as smooth and active as the bubbles of the spirit level, swaying gently with the breeze. The rain was still pouring down, and after a while, the sparkling water fell from one lotus leaf to the other, suddenly breaking the tranquility of the lotus leaves, and immediately the roots trembled, passing from one lotus leaf to the other. , the continuous oscillations are like rippling blue waves. It also seemed to be a man-made water leak, flowing through one leaf and then dripping onto the ground, disappearing into the gaps between the cobblestones.

Passing through the patio and coming out of the back door is the back garden of Guo's residential area.

There are many flower pots in the back garden, where various varieties of lotus flowers are planted, all of which are rare varieties.

In the back garden facing the West Lake, there is a Pavilion called Wind and Moon Pavilion. It is a good place for the Guo family to watch the West Lake and admire the moon. It can be enjoyed rain or shine. As far as the eye can see, you can see the vast West Lake and Su Causeway at spring dawn. On a summer moonlit night, the moonlight is soft, the fragrance of lotus lingers, and the cool breeze blows. It is so comfortable. In winter, the three doors and windows are closed tightly, leaving only a ray of warm sunshine. No matter how the north wind blows, it is still warm and cozy.

Nowadays, Chengfeng Yaoyue Pavilion is a teahouse. Whenever the lotus flowers are in bloom, there is an endless stream of tea drinkers, and the fragrance of tea is intoxicating with the fragrance of lotus.

Crossing the covered bridge, there are verdant green curtains on both sides, and golden carps shuttle under the bridge. Looking up, there are piles of rocks, small bridges, curved banks, clear waves, and gurgling water.

A mirror-like pool, winding corridors surround the water, stacked stones reflect the water, flowers and trees surround the water, small bridges lie on the water, it is like a mirror above and below the water, you reflect me and I reflect you. , infinite confusion and infinite clarity. Everything seems spiritual.

This is Su Chi in Guozhuang. The water lilies are blooming in pink, the wind is enchanting, the clear water ripples with a gurgling sound, and there are several small fountains, like boiling pots, gushing and rolling. Under the fish bridge, swim here and there.

A Huanzao Pavilion with tables and chairs where you can sip Longjing tea and enjoy the lotus fragrance from Su Chi.

Opposite the pavilion is the covered bridge outside Master Guo's living room.

The white-flowered water lilies have leaves that look like fish swimming around.

Guozhuang has a lot of leaky whitewashed walls and windows. Walking through it is like entering a gallery, with rectangular, hexagonal, plum blossom and fan shapes, a big moon door, a high-ceiling door, and real-life silhouettes hanging in the air. It is a shimmering and transparent painting, it is a painting that is accompanied by sound and changes, it is a living painting of the four seasons, changing from time to time, day by day, month by month. More than any paintings by famous artists, I like window-opening paintings. I can look at them by folding them over and over, and I can admire them in a flash. It has a unique taste.

There are also patches of lotus flowers beside the wall, with green silhouettes.

The lotus pods facing the sun are particularly elegant.

Through the lotus leaves and the leaky window, a silhouette of the trees on the terrace facing the West Lake is seen in the background, and the infinite scenery of the West Lake cannot be blocked.

We moved to the terrace, and there were tables and four chairs on the left and right, and colorful and lovely people.

Sitting next to the lotus with a plate of tea and a mobile phone.

This is the West Lake where the poet Yang Wanli of the Song Dynasty wrote: "The lotus leaves touching the sky are infinitely green, and the lotus flowers reflecting the sun are uniquely red."

Looking back is Jingsu Pavilion. If you climb the building and lean on the railing to look around, you will see mountains in the distance stacked like black ink, with shimmering waves, making you feel relaxed and comfortable. When you open the grid door and look out from the Yiyue Cave, you can see the Su Embankment Bridge and the lotus flowers in the lake. You can play chess, paint, or recite poems, and you will naturally feel poetic.

I really like the silhouette of lotus leaves on the white wall.

I like Guo’s pavilion the most. Climb up the steps and step into the pavilion. From a high position, you can see the blue sky and white clouds falling over the West Lake. The spring dawn on Su Causeway is picturesque in all four seasons; Su Chi Mirror Lake and the beautiful scenery of the manor are all there. Under the eyes; the breeze blows, the heart of spring is rippling, it is really pleasing to the eye. I also like the rockery next to the pavilion, with its large holes and small holes to peek into the West Lake.

I think this pavilion is also the lookout pavilion of the Guo family. Standing here, you can see the inside and outside of the manor at a glance.

I think it was also a paradise for the children of the Guo family back then. It was a joy to climb up and down the rockery steps.

Children lie on the top of the mountain and look down, or perch on the branches of the trees for a bird's eye view, or lean on the holes in the rockery to take a peek: boats are swaying, birds are flying, and lotus flowers are swaying in the wind. It is a different kind of fun.

Good boy, make a move and fly with joy. Let’s take a beautiful picture.

This is the Yi Jing Kaitian Lake in Guozhuang. I visited it at the end of autumn. As the name suggests, it is like a mirror, with shining silver light, smooth and traceless, and silent. Only a few groups of carp swim by and swim. There are ripples in circles; the blue sky and white clouds fall into the water, and everything around is reflected in the water, making it very blurry and quiet.

At that time, I thought that Mr. Guo must often visit here. He would come out of the Jingsu Pavilion study, cross the Wobo Bridge, Yingyue Pavilion, Cuiminang, Liangyixuan, and so on; one circle and another. A circle, walking here and there again, my thoughts are like pouring beans through a bamboo tube, and I pour them back and forth; when I am happy, I squat down to enjoy the fish in the lake, and groups of them shuttle through the sky and the woods; when I am tired, I sit on the green corridor , look up at the clouds, look at the trees, or hold a book, lean against the window, listen to the wind or rain.

But in July, when the lotuses are abundant, it seems that the sky-opening lake has disappeared. The pond is full of lotus leaves, lotus pods and pink flowers, as well as the pond full of nymphomaniacs. Feeling a little disappointed, I quietly asked myself if I preferred a quiet lake, a lake with white space.

From time to time, clouds of smoke are artificially blown up, just like a fairyland. In fact, I would rather return it to its original appearance, clean and tidy.

As the smoke rose, the photographers were busy nervously.

I have always wondered why I can't see a lotus in full bloom. It is either a sharp bud or a faded red. The most beautiful one is just the one with one petal quietly falling off. When I went to Quyuan to enjoy the lotuses at the end of June, I thought it was too early. So I chose to go to Guozhuang in early July, but I didn’t realize that I might still be there too early or too late.

Later I checked the information: To enjoy lotus, you should choose to watch it in the morning. Each lotus only blooms for three days. It blooms in the morning of the first day, and the umbrellas are closed after noon; it reopens in the morning of the second day. It was closed again, and opened again on the morning of the third day. From noon on, one petal drooped, and then it drooped and fell every day... No wonder every time I go there in the afternoon, I can't see the most beautiful lotus flowers.

A dedicated old photographer whom Quyuan met for the first time told us the story of the mandarin duck that day. I asked him where he saved all the photos he took, and he said he would only pick up a few photos after a busy day and delete the rest. I was stunned.

Guozhuang is not only beautiful with its lotus flowers, but the manor buildings are actually even more beautiful. There are galleries everywhere, and it’s interesting to wander around. The garden has smooth access and is not blocked; the wonderful thing is that every step brings a scene, like a spring breeze, refreshing the heart and mind; even if there are windows, doors, and holes, one window has a scene, one door has a scene, two windows have a scene, and three windows have a scene. It’s not just a lotus exhibition, it seems to be a live painting exhibition.

After watching the lotus exhibition, we walked out of the north gate, and suddenly thought of what we thought when we came out to enjoy the garden in autumn: How happy we would be if we could live in such a quiet and elegant residence for half our lives. It was decided that day that I would definitely come back in June when the lotus flowers bloom. Finally arrived today as promised.

We held an umbrella and walked through the metasequoia forest. There was a bus stop for going home in the distance.

In early July 2019, the wind was calm and traceless in Hangzhou.