An English village inn in Chinese countryside

NANCHANG - All of the 14 guestrooms at Edward Gawne's village inn in the Chinese countryside are booked a month in advance.

The 33-year-old British man runs an inn named Skywells in Wuyuan County, Jiangxi Province with his Chinese wife, Selina Liao Minxin.

"With the Tomb-Sweeping Day holiday, we receive more than 20 phone calls to make reservations or get directions every day," Gawne said.

The couple opened Skywells last August in a historic mansion that contains delicate woodcarvings, a western fireplace, a wooden bar as well as a small blackboard with a menu in both Chinese and English.

It is one of the over 4,000 historic houses in Wuyuan, an area famous for its fields of golden rapeseed flowers in spring. Most of the houses feature traditional Hui architecture, known for its gray tiles and white walls.

"Here we have green trees giving shade and a stream flowing beneath little bridges. Hui-style houses are beautiful, representing traditional Chinese culture," Gawne said.