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]

After being left behind in the mazelike lanes of Nanping village in Yixian County, Anhui Province, I finally found the way to Bing Ling Ge, or literally, the ice slice pavilion, an ancient but elegant dwelling.

My colleagues had already made themselves at home and were casually sprawled out on wooden chairs in the building's main hall, a place only for distinguished guests in the past but now crowded with a variety of antiques such as ink slabs, wooden sculptures and ceramics.

In the middle of Bing Ling Ge's main hall was a plainly clothed, middle-aged woman with short hair, wearing blue jeans and a pair of pink slippers. If it was not that she was the only stranger inside the house besides Mr. Hu, the local official who served as our guide, you may have hardly noticed such an ordinary woman. But I intuitively knew she was Han Ying, the owner of the house, and the person we came to see.

Netizens have written online comments about how nice and well-read Han Ying is, and recommended her exquisite ancient house as a must-see place in Nanping village. Deeply intrigued, I circled this dot on the schedule before we started our township trip, picturing a graceful lady idling away days and nights in a vintage yard.