1555 Middle Huaihai Road
Shanghai Library · Huaihai Road
上海图书馆淮海路馆
A place for reading on the tree-lined avenue
Opened in 1996, the Huaihai library adds a modern civic building to a historic avenue. Unequal towers, a recessed entrance and Knowledge Plaza connect books with the city.
Follow its history through photographs
Published July 2022; capture date unstated
The Huaihai library’s two towers and podium show its overall arrangement.
Photographer uncredited; see source page · Image source · Rights retained by creators and source; no open licence stated
At a glance
- Building date
- Opened 20 December 1996
- Designer
- Shanghai Institute of Civil Architectural Design
- Character
- Twin towers, podium and public plaza
- Original use
- Public library
- Recorded use
- Shanghai Library’s Huaihai location
- Location
- 1555 Middle Huaihai Road
The beginning
Why was it built here?
Shanghai Library opened as an institution in 1952 on West Nanjing Road. The Huaihai building expanded reading and collection services; the institution’s founding date is not this building’s date.[1] [2]
A competition and repeated revisions shaped the project. Reading rooms, research and storage were combined with a generous approach from the avenue.[1] [2]
Look up, then look closer
Three details worth a closer look
One building, changing roles
History unfolds between the photographs
Captions distinguish photographic dates from publication dates; periods without reliable images are covered in the text.
- 1952
- 1993
- 1996
Books move; the new library opens
The photograph shows the first moving truck leaving West Nanjing Road in summer 1996. The new library opened on 20 December; the pictured departure is at the old site.[1] [2]
Summer 1996, source caption
The first book-moving truck at the old West Nanjing Road library: a relocation record, not the new building’s exterior.
Photographer uncredited; see source page · Image source · Rights retained by creators and source; no open licence stated
Today and visiting
Discover the building from the street
Choose the Huaihai Road location when planning, rather than the East Library in Pudong. Plaza, exhibition and reading areas can have different access arrangements.[1] [2]
- Location
- 淮海中路1555号
- Where to look
- Twin towers, podium and public plaza
- Access
- Check the venue’s current admission, booking and exhibition notices.
Sources checked: 2026-10-26 · Check the venue’s current admission, booking and exhibition notices.
Shanghai and the world
Connections along the avenue
The library connects a residential and commercial avenue to public knowledge. The former Hongying Library offers a smaller comparison: how different generations made room for reading and culture.[1] [2]
Text and image sources
This account is based on the sources below. Unverified details are identified as such. Where photographs are included, sources and licences are listed beneath each image.
- Shanghai local history · seventy years of Shanghai Library (2022) ↗
Building and historical record; not a guarantee of access today.
- Shanghai Library · directions ↗
Building and historical record; not a guarantee of access today.
Image handling and dating
Images come from the archives or image source pages listed beneath each photograph. We resize and compress them to WebP, preserving their original proportions without colourisation or added detail. Grain, blur and scanning marks in historical photographs are retained.
Undated photographs carry the source publication date only; they do not establish present access. Missing historical stages are not illustrated with another building or an imagined scene.
Rights retained by creators and source; no open licence stated