Coconut Grove Inn (Chinese: 椰林客栈) is a hostel and restaurant run by Dongguan Spirit Animal Association, which also serves as its Guancheng headquarters. The inn’s building was formerly a small open-air stadium, with the central court now converted into a fish pool where Mingzhu the Spirit Shark lives.
History
Coconut Grove Restaurant: The predecessor of Coconut Grove Inn was Coconut Grove Restaurant, located in the Civil Service Building next to Guancheng‘s City Gate during China’s early reform and opening up years. The name “Coconut Grove” came from its signature dessert, “Shaved Coconut Milk Ice.” After the Civil Service Building was demolished, the restaurant moved to its current location.
10,000-seat open-air stadium: The current building of the inn was originally the so-called 10,000-seat open-air stadium (Chinese: 万人灯光球场, formally: the Veteran Clubhouse of Guancheng) of the Guancheng People’s Park. It fell into disuse for decades due to its small court and outdated facilities. Around 2000, the Dongguan Spirit Animal Association leased the place, renovated it extensively, and opened it to the public as a hostel and a restaurant. The association’s headquarters in Guancheng is also located here.
Hostel
The Coconut Grove Inn offers safe and affordable temporary accommodations for spirit animals and does not accept human customers. If a human attempts to check in, they will be told that “the hostel is fully booked”.
The pool: The center of the stadium once featured a basketball court that was often waterlogged. The spirit animal associations deepened the area and converted it into a freshwater pool, filled with various fancy fish. The pool has equipment for constant temperature, purification, and oxygenation. There are also small compartments for aquatic spirit animals to stay in their animal forms. Mingzhu the Spirit Shark resides here, and there is a warning sign reading “Beware of sharks” by the poolside. Since few other freshwater fish spirit animals visit, this pool is mostly her private space.
The seats: The stadium’s spectator stand now features a canopy and large fish tanks filled with either salty or fresh water. These tanks house aquatic animals for the restaurant’s food supply and can also serve as guest rooms for marine spirit animals in their animal forms.
The tree: A massive banyan tree now occupies the ground next to the pool, which was the stadium’s vehicle entrance. The tree shade nearly envelops the entire building. Colorful cloth strips are hung on the tree to obscure views of surrounding buildings. Drone jammers are also installed on the tree. Small tree houses with bird nests have been built to provide accommodation for avian spirit animals in their animal forms.
Guest rooms: The space beneath the spectator stand has been mostly transformed into guest rooms for spirit animals without special needs.
Restaurant
The restaurant at Coconut Grove Inn tailors its menu to the tastes of local spirit animals in Guancheng, serving both them and human customers. The main entrance hall on the first floor of the stadium has been converted into a dining area, the side hall into a small library, sports equipment storage into a kitchen, and the guard room into a bar counter.
Guancheng headquarters of DGSAA
Office: The side entrance hall on the second floor of the stadium now serves as the office for the Dongguan Spirit Animal Association‘s Guancheng headquarters, publicly disguised as the “Fengtai Poets Society.” The open-air staircase to this floor is equipped with human detection spells; an alarm will sound in the office if a human steps on it. Spirit animals visiting the association will be directed into an inner compartment.
Artifact storage: The former dance hall on the third floor’s now keeps most of Dongguan‘s spirit animal cultural legacies. Qiuye the Spirit Dhole often studies these items here, and Mingzhu the Spirit Shark also does her homework in this space.
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