But Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and elephants were also added to the mix at this "Oriental palace of jewels."

His Oriental palace, Iranistan, had burned down some years before.

"It's like passing from a cloister into an Oriental palace," he said, and took a deep breath of the warm, flower-scented air.

Oriental Pearl 103-105 Mott Street (Canal Street), (212) 219-8388 - The main dining room at this sprawling 500-seat Chinese party palace is a carnival of ceramic statues, dragons with flashing eyes and colored lights.

This dealer also has an exotic Oriental palace in brass and iron made in the Victorian style a century ago.

In Palermo, churches and mosques stood side-by-side, feudal castles next to Oriental palaces and their exotic gardens.

And in January, Livent Inc., a Canadian production company, announced its intention to acquire and renovate the Oriental Theater, a long-shuttered movie palace a block away from the Chicago on Randolph Street.

G Map One of the city's oldest restaurants, this place serves Central Asian fare in exotic environs, reminiscent of an Oriental palace.

Brighton Pavilion, Sussex: Prince Regent's Oriental palace.

You have to be in a festive mood to appreciate Oriental Pearl, a sprawling 500-seat Chinese party palace on Mott Street.