Huaizhou Building of Yunnan University

At the northern terminus of the central axis of the Donglu Campus of Yunnan University, the Huaizhou Building stands as a solid, plain monument to the passage of academic life. To reach it, visitors walk past the historic Zhigong Hall, following a path bordered by a wall embedded with rough, weathered brick fragments from the Ming dynasty Yunnan Fu city wall.

This ground has long accommodated the quiet labor of evaluation and learning. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the site housed Hengjian Tang, the grading hall where imperial examiners read and scored civil service essays. When Donglu University was established, administrators converted the old grading hall into a library.

The structure owes its existence to a specific historical encounter. On April 10, 1955, Premier Zhou Enlai walked these grounds. He observed that the old library was too small for the growing student body and their expanding collections of books. Zhou Enlai advocated for a new facility, securing special funding from the Central Government and the Ministry of Education. Workers began construction in 1958 and completed the new library in late 1960, with a total floor area of 6,603 square metres. The building was named the Huaizhou Building to honour his patronage.

For decades, the building held the scent of ink and the soft rustle of pages as generations of students studied within its functional walls. Today, the building has transitioned from a repository of books to a space of active creation. It serves as the administrative and educational hub for the Changxin International Art College. The former reading rooms now function as classrooms and art studios, where the smell of paint and the sound of creative discussion fill the halls, continuing a centuries-old tradition of intellectual work on this historic ground.