Life is good for a dentist who owns a massive mansion, equipped with a cinema, luxury stables and an organic vegetable garden, Liu Yujie discovers

In Beijing, a city where a 100-square-meter flat is considered "spacious", few people are lucky enough to expand into anything bigger and almost no one gets the luxury of unused space. That is what Liu Jia, CEO of Jiamei Dental, experiences every day. Living with his wife, Liu has a house that far, far exceeds 100 sq m - with more than 1,000 sq m of living space, it has twice as much land again.

Liu, in his 40s, moved from his hometown of Dalian to Beijing in 2001. He had the luxury villa built in Chaoyang district, close to the Beijing Capital International Airport.

Though it seems far away, Liu said the journey to his office in Sanyuanqiao, on the Third Ring Road, takes only 10 minutes by airport expressway.

"Many friends think I only come here at the weekend," he said. "Actually, this is my home for every night of the week."

The road up to the house is majestic. Shielded from the wind by tall locust trees, it twists and turns past a river. On the right is a golf course, on the left a meadow.

Since the path only leads to Liu's home, it is deathly quiet and on a winter's night, can take on an eerie feel.

"I once took a taxi home at night, since my car wasn't allowed on the road that day due to the number plate restriction," Liu said.

"The driver got more and more scared. He suddenly stopped the vehicle and asked me to get off, saying he wouldn't charge me a penny. I asked him to go further but he wasn't at all happy until he saw the house."

Liu took an active role in designing his home. He made a rough plan of what he wanted, then passed it to an architect to turn the vision into a reality. Interior furnishings are chiefly wooden pieces from Italy.

"My plan is for the house to look old from the start, but stay new as the years tick by," Liu said.

From wallpaper and tiles to fabric and even the staircase, shades of brown provide the feeling of history. Pictures collected at European markets add a vintage ambience.

To dampen the startling brightness of air conditioners and other white electrical appliances, Liu covered them in wood-pattern sticky-back sheeting.

"There is not one corner of the house left untouched," said Liu.

The businessman said he often has celebrity friends over for parties. He plays piano and chats about photography or his other great passion, horse-riding - he owns three horses, imported from Germany, France and Britain.

"I love horses. I sometimes ride one to collect lost visitors on their way to the house," Liu said.

Also in the house is a home cinema, installed when the house was built. With speakers embedded in the walls covering 360 degrees, the sound effect is so realistic that "you can feel something flying outside or when windows break behind you".

Liu said his friends come over to watch movies through the night.

"Most cinemas are not open all night. In my home, we can indulge ourselves in youthful craziness," Liu said.

To counter tiredness that might arise from late film nights and parties, not to mention heavy pressure from work, Liu has turned a section of his backyard into an organic garden.

"The vegetables don't grow very large but they smell fresh," said Liu, sniffing celery leaves that are one-10th the size of their supermarket brothers.

But while sizes might be unimpressive, Liu said the quantity is more than enough to feed his family. They store the rest in a vegetable cellar to keep safe through the winter, subtly using up at least some of that extra space.

Top: An antique clock hangs in the foyer of the house, with twin staircases and a chandelier behind. Above: A toy monkey hangs from a metal divider in the living room.