The Most Beautiful Libraries Hidden in Chinese Universities
Author: GoToPanda · About 7 min read
When choosing a university, what do you value?
Ranking, major, city, tuition — these matter, of course.
But there's one place you'll pass through repeatedly over four years that rarely appears on your selection list: the library.
In China, many university libraries aren't just "places to read." They're architectural landmarks, social-media check-in spots, and "third spaces" where students are happy to spend the whole day. Some libraries have won the "Luban Prize" in architecture, some are shaped like an open book, and some have glass floors that feel like walking on clouds.
Today, let's use data to tour the Chinese university libraries that are truly worth seeing.
The "looks" group: these libraries are architectural works themselves
Soochow University · Binglin Library
In a 2014 online ranking of "China's 50 most beautiful university libraries," Binglin Library ranked first. The top three were all swept by Jiangsu universities, with Nanjing University's Dusha Library and Southeast University's Li Wenzheng Library second and third.
Its shape is a "crystal lotus," with over 30,000 square meters of floor area, nearly 40 meters tall, designed to hold 760,000 books with nearly 2,500 reading seats. It's the only circular library in the country to win a world gold award in international form design, and ranks first worldwide in the university-library category of the Luban Prize.
Inside are space-capsule-style sightseeing elevators and a cozy café. Even without borrowing a book, the building itself is worth a dedicated visit.
Nanjing University · Dusha Library
Located on the Xianlin campus, it has 53,000 square meters of floor area, designed to hold 3 million books with over 5,000 reading seats — the largest university library collection in Jiangsu province.
Its overall shape is an open book, surrounded by rivers, symbolizing "there is a path up the mountain of books through diligence, and a boundless ocean of learning to be crossed by hard work." Total investment exceeded 200 million yuan, including a 30-million-yuan donation from alumnus Mr. Du Sha.
The design philosophy is an "open library." Each floor has transparent-glass "seminar rooms" where professors can teach graduate students. When tired of studying, there are courtyard-style lounge areas for coffee.
Southeast University · Li Wenzheng Library
Based on the traditional "round heaven, square earth" design concept, it sits at the geographic center of the Jiulonghu campus. With 53,828 square meters of floor area, it was the largest university library in East China when built. Designed by national master architect Academician Qi Kang, with a $2 million donation from Mr. Li Wenzheng.
It's the only library in China surrounded by a lake on all sides. The facade is 192 meters wide, using a classical three-part composition with a 130-meter colonnade shaping an elegant, dignified image. A 200-mu semicircular green lawn leads up to it, with a crescent artificial landscape lake to the south and Jiulong Lake to the west.
Shantou University Library
Known as "Asia's most beautiful university library." Invested by Li Ka-shing, designed by Chen Ruixian, winner of the "Asia's Most Influential Design Award."
The new building has about 21,000 square meters of floor area. Its design concept draws from ancient Chinese thread-bound books, with the exterior reflecting the elegant structure of a thread-bound book box and the interior exuding the spirit of traditional Chinese academy gardens. The overall design is described as "a modern interpretation of the ancient Chinese box of knowledge."
In October 2025, the Shantou University East Coast campus library officially opened. Designed with the concept of an "open wisdom ring and ever-turning knowledge wheel," its shape is like a wisdom ring landing on a grassy slope, with facade louvers like pages blown by the sea breeze.
It has 35,000 square meters of floor area, capacity for about 1.2 million books, and over 2,800 reading seats. Inside are silent pods, multifunctional seminar rooms, and self-service borrowing systems. It echoes the "Eastern book box" shape of the Sangpushan campus library, together forming Shantou University's "mountain-and-sea cultural narrative."
The "heritage" group: walking in feels like walking into history
Peking University Library
Its predecessor was the 1898 book collection of the Imperial University of Peking. The current complex consists of the west building (old) and east building (new); the new building was funded by a donation from Mr. Li Ka-shing and completed in 1998 for PKU's centennial.
The old and new buildings total over 50,000 square meters, with over 4,000 reading seats and a collection capacity exceeding 6 million volumes — the largest university library in Asia by scale.
The new building was designed by Tsinghua University's Architectural Design Institute, with chief architect Professor Guan Zhaoye of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. Located on the south shore of Weiming Lake in Yanyuan, connected to the old building, its style is plain, generous, dignified, and harmonious with Yanyuan's existing architecture. A sunlit hall and dome were added — sitting under the great dome, a square hall is ringed by circular water, symbolizing the spread of culture and education in all directions.
Tsinghua University Library
Tsinghua's library traces back to the 1912 reading room of Tsinghua School, officially renamed a library in 1913. The old building's "glass book stack" was completed in 1919, named for its frosted-glass floors.
The translucent glass floors give the stack a refined, distinctive feel, with a uniquely light sensation underfoot — generations of Tsinghua students describe themselves as "walking on lake water, walking on clouds." Steel bookshelves rise from the first to third floor on both sides, and the pulley book-lift that moves books still works today.
In the 1930s, spending time in the library was jokingly called "mining" by Tsinghua students. It was here, at a long table, that the 23-year-old Cao Yu finished writing "Thunderstorm" in one summer. Today, at that same long table, students can still read documents and discuss scholarship, as if communicating with masters across time.
Tsinghua's library was also approved by the State Council as one of the first national key ancient-book protection units. The Yang Chen-Ning Reading Room, which opened in October 2025, features books, photos, and teaching-slide manuscripts all freely donated by Mr. Yang, with one corner recreating his office scene at Tsinghua's Institute for Advanced Study.
The "tech" group: more than a place to read
Fudan University · Medical Library
With about 18,000 square meters of floor area across a basement and seven floors, it focuses on smart-library and medical-humanities features. It holds 500,000 precious medical volumes, but the most distinctive thing here is: most of the space has no books in sight.
Most of the space from the basement to the sixth floor hosts lectures, exhibitions, and VR teaching experiences. The new medical library has a dedicated medical technology hall for 3D-printed organs, VR-simulated surgery, and 3D-animated anatomy. There are also multiple independent study rooms whose walls are colored blackboards, where students can sketch anatomical positions and record research ideas at any time.
The sixth and seventh floors are decorated in Chinese style, using Burmese rosewood and elm, housing the "Shanghai Medical Humanities Collection" that displays precious medical writings, manuscripts, and teaching tools from ancient and modern China and abroad.
Zhejiang University Library main building
Opened for trial in November 2023, it was instantly popular, fully booked daily. It has 37,000 square meters of floor area across six above-ground floors and one basement, with over 2,000 seats and 100+ spaces of various types.
The design concept is "inclusive yet harmonious in diversity." The building uses a traditional hip-and-gable roof combined with modern facade techniques, the roof like unfolding pages. Inside is a 12-meter-tall "Guantong Hall," named from the ZJU school song's phrase "cherish classical learning, think deeply and see clearly."
Corridors and connecting galleries are designed as casual study spaces, furnished with curved, rectangular, and irregular sofas, plus movable and combinable chairs and stools.
Tongji University · Jiading campus library
With 34,620 square meters of floor area across 14 above-ground floors and one basement, 65.1 meters tall, designed to hold 1.5 million books. Tongji is famous for architecture, and this library's design concept still looks ahead of its time nearly 20 years later.
The building has a regular floor plan with a crisp, simple, dignified form. Inside, a "modular" design concept achieves a large open layout unifying storage, borrowing, reading, and study. Within the 14 floors are five atrium shared spaces, each with differently styled landscape stairways connecting the floors.
What does the library mean for your study-abroad experience?
Many people treat the library as a "supporting facility" when choosing a university.
But in reality, the library determines most of your learning experience over the next four years. A good library isn't just about many books and seats — it's about wanting to stay. It has natural light, discussion space, coffee, and an atmosphere you don't want to leave.
Chinese university libraries are undergoing an "upgrade wave." New libraries are no longer a simple combination of "shelves + desks," but composite learning spaces integrating seminar rooms, VR experiences, silent pods, and cafés.
Most of these libraries are free for enrolled students.
Want to know which university suits you best?
GoToPanda (Panda Guide) has data on 300+ Chinese universities and 500,000 entries, covering city, tuition, language requirements, and living costs across 13 dimensions. Its AI assistant Pandi can filter universities by your preferences. Ask it directly:
- "Which Chinese universities have the most famous libraries? I want a school with a good study atmosphere."
- "Between Soochow University and Nanjing University, which has better campus facilities?"
- "I want a university with a modern library, budget under 50,000 a year — recommend a few."
It gives specific recommendations and reasons, instead of making you dig through hundreds of pages.
The library is the soul of a university. When choosing a school, it's worth adding to your list.