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¡¡ Located on the western side of the West Lake,
the one-acre Guo Manor looks across the western inner lake to the
Su Causeway. The estate is also known as Fenyang Villa.
The manor is surrounded by age-old trees against the undulating peaks
in the distance. The waves touches the estate, bringing all the shadows
and reflections of the lakeside scenery to the pavilions and houses.
Looking across the expanse of the lake, you can discern the shadow
of the Baochu Pagoda in the east merged with the causeway, and pleasure
boats noiselessly glide on the glass-like waters.
Inside the estate are tall trees leaning against wooden houses, zigzagged
corridors and pavilions perching on the ponds, flowers flanking narrow
plate paths, birds hovering and dashing above and fish splashing now
and then. When the silver moon shines brightly in a light breeze,
you don't know where you are and what evening is this evening.
The Guo Estate has been well known far and near for centuries. The
Records of Gardens in Southeast China makes such a comment on the
lakeside manor: the estate is encircled by waters. It is so graceful
and intricate that it resembles the Wangshi Garden in Suzhou. Full
of eternal, poetic beauty, the manor is the one of the best garden-like
private estate properties in Hangzhou. Chen Chongzhou, a modern architectural
master on the art of landscape gardening, observes that the estate
is the best garden on the West Lake in comparison with all other adjacent
gardens. He identifies the Guo Estate concisely as the back view of
the West Lake.