A glimpse of Han Ying's Bing Ling Ge, or ice slice pavilion, on July 30, 2009. The home inn in Nanping village, Yixian County of east China's Anhui Province, is an ancient house built during the Ming and Qing dynasties. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com]

Now, it seemed that was just an illusion. The host was seemingly not as attractive as I had imagined. But this thought disappeared when Han greeted me with a sincere, fully blossoming smile and approachable ready-to-talk look.

We quickly made our acquaintance, and I wandered if she would show me, a late arrival, around the house. She agreed and proceeded to elaborate on every element of her house, including the front-door security system, the ancient rituals of entering the house, the emblem sculpture designs and the morals written on accompanying couplets.

The two parts of the house were built during the Ming and Qing dynasties, respectively. The house is one of the village's typically well-preserved Hui-style structures. It is shaped like a green quadrangle pond and has a huge earthen jar in the middle for fish and water plants. The rain drizzled into the bright patio.

Besides the expressively crafted wooden sculptures on the doors, windows and rails, a giant, round, wooden decoration on the cloisters grabbed our attention. The ice slice-like mullion structures, incorporated with German-made window glass panes dating back to the Qing Dynasty, as well as scene-by-scene wooden relief carvings of West Lake in Hangzhou were quite impressive. It is said that the relief carvings show a son's filial piety to his mother who wanted to visit West Lake in Hangzhou but was unable to go on account of poor health.

As an explanation for the elaborate carvings, Han said Hui merchants were not that commercially focused and showed great interest in poetry and literature.

The house was passed down from Han's ancestors who made their fortune by running a bank in Wuhu, Anhui Province. They later built this magnificent house in Nanping, their hometown. Han's husband, Cheng Yahui, is the 27th generation of the Cheng family.