Shanghai Library Bibliotheca Zi-Ka-Wei (Shanghai Tushuguan Xujiahui Cangshu Lou)

Frommer's Review

The Jesuits established in 1847 as part of their mission in Xujiahui a library (Bibliotheca Zi-Ka-Wei), which is now partially reopened to the public. The first of the two buildings that constitute the present library has a second floor public reading room presided over by two boxwood friezes, one of St. Ignatius of Loyola on his deathbed, and the other of St. Francis. But the real treasure is in the adjacent two-story Bibliotheca built in 1897 with a first floor designed in a Chinese style with separate alcoves for the keeping of local records, and the second floor given over to the collection of Western books. Here, stacked neatly on wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling shelves are some 560,000 musty, fragile volumes in about 20 languages including Latin, English, French, German, Chinese, and Russian, and covering everything from literature and philosophy to politics, history, and religion. The oldest book, a Latin tome by John Duns Scotus, dates to 1515. Remarkably, the library, which had become a part of the Shanghai City Library in 1956, did not lose a single volume during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), as librarians defended the collection zealously from Red Guards. The Bibliotheca is only open for touring on Saturday afternoons, but the reading room is open to the public during regular business hours. Special-interest groups can call ahead to arrange a private tour.

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