In June while I was visiting Beijing, I stayed at a magical, oriental, bohemian, green house. Yes, that's right. It was a small inn called Kelly's Place ( the owner's wife's English name was Kelly)privately owned and ran by a family.
I spent many jet-lagged induced early mornings and late nights in 'Kelly's Place'. Every morning I woke up (around 6:30) to a 'Western' styled breakfast buffet placed neatly on a bar at the center of the courtyard. I quickly learned that a Western breakfast in China was not exactly Western. Also, coffee was not as popular as tea, meaning that tea quickly became my coffee substitute.
During the day, I went on excursions to old and new parts of Beijing. Returning to this inn was always a relief after walking for miles around the city. When entering the inn, you passed a quiet kitchen and continued through tall thin doors that opened to a courtyard. The courtyard had many tables accompanied by cushions filled with rice. What made this courtyard so special however, was the large glass roof that stretched all the way across
Natural light filled every corner, the only shadows were the ancient tree branches that swayed back and forth above the glass. The courtyard itself featured many indoor plants, tables, a shallow goldfish pond, a living tree which exited through the roof, a spiral staircase in the corner which led up to a common room, culture-rich Knick-Knacks, and a terrace. The pictures do not give justice to the beauty of Kelly's inn.
