National Library: the facade

Do you know which is the largest library in Asia? It is the National Library of China (NLC), which has a collection of over 25 million volumes of books.

The library was built during the Qing dynasty in 1909. After many years' of development, the library becomes the fifth largest in the world. As it located on the campus district in Haidian, many college students come here to read books during weekends. You can sit down into a reading room and read open-shelf books for free.

If you are not familiar with the layout and book classification, you can also search digital resources on the internal information system in East Rooms 202 and 204. If you need further help, just go to the information counter on the first floor. The receptionist can speak basic English.

The library has more than 10 million books in foreign languages. North Room 214 is for foreign language books and West Room 406 for magazines and newspapers in English.