Once you become a student of Beijing Language and Culture University, you'll probably pass through this building everyday. Whether or not you've attempted to go in, you deserve to know what it's like inside and what this place could offer you. Located at the heart of the school, the BLCU library or better yet known as 图书馆 (Túshū guǎn), is actually one of the most useful places for students who are looking for a quiet and convenient place to study and read books. Here are several places you might want to visit in the Library:
The Sauce - Cafe
Before you even recognize the building (that it's actually the library), you will surely see this place first. The Sauce sells a variety of snacks/meals which includes Sandwiches, Salads, Coffee and the like. Coffee is sold at around 10-20 RMB a cup. Some students choose to spend their time studying inside the Sauce rather than the library, some also like to spend time chatting outside this Coffee shop, since they have chairs and tables arranged outside as well. I have never tried their Sandwiches, but the large ones are about a foot tall and they look really good! Not bad for it's price.
Photo booth
When you enter the Library, just look at the immediate left area and you will see an instant photo booth. This will be very convenient for you especially when you need your photos taken during the enrollment procedure.
Newspapers and Periodicals Reading Room
This area is located on the First floor of the BLCU library, beside the staircase. It is opened from Mondays to Saturdays from 8:00-11:30, 14:00-17:30 and 18:30-21:30. In this area, you can find a lot of reading materials including magazines and the like, but as far as I'm concerned, they have English newspapers, which you can read when you want to get updates about the World Events.
This is my secret study area. Whenever all the Quiet Study rooms are full, you can always try to visit this room because usually, there will be a free space. Once you enter the room, you'll need to get a number with a key, open a locker and leave your bag inside. Don't forget to get your things back when you leave and return the key!
Book Shops
There are 2 Book Shops inside the Library. One is located at the first floor, close to the toilet area. All the books inside are in Chinese. It sells maps of Beijing, Chinese to other languages dictionary and many others. If your Chinese is quite advanced, you can come by to buy books that you may like. The other book shop is located at the second floor. It's not very noticeable, but you just need to turn right as soon as you get up and you will see it. This book shop sells books suitable for foreigners like us. It sells all kinds of Learn Chinese Books, Dictionaries and DVD's. It also sells our own Text books! This book shop is pretty interesting, I think it has all the resources we need for our study in BLCU.
Quiet Study Room
For people who like a well-lighted and quiet place to study, you can come by the library and take a spot on it's Quiet study rooms. The quiet study room is opened from 7:00 - 22:30 daily. It is really quiet inside, barely having any noise except for people coming in and leaving the area. Also, everyone inside is studying so you can get the motivation to study yourself. But because it's free for everyone to use, it is more often than not, full.
There are I think about 3 study rooms in the BLCU library, one in every floor. You can come by at an earlier time to reserve your seat by leaving a book/notebook on top of the table. Make it appear like you're in the middle of studying by opening your book and you can come back again later when you decide to study. You can also do the same when you're out for lunch/dinner so that you're seat will not be taken from you.
Convenience Store
This store is located just beside the book shop. You can buy some snacks, bottled coffee, notebooks and other basic necessities inside. You can also enter and exit the library through this store.
Copy/Print Shop
The Copy/Print Shop is located right after the Convenience store. If you enter from the back door (exit leads to the Conference center building), you just need to walk pass a small tea shop to get here. For photocopying, it will cost you around 1 mao (1/10 of an 1 RMB) for each copy. They also offer scanning services for 2 RMB per page.
Tea House
There is a tea house located just behind the Copy/Print shop. You can try coming by to study if all other areas in the library are full. I think this area is usually less visited by students.
The Sauce - Cafe
Before you even recognize the building (that it's actually the library), you will surely see this place first. The Sauce sells a variety of snacks/meals which includes Sandwiches, Salads, Coffee and the like. Coffee is sold at around 10-20 RMB a cup. Some students choose to spend their time studying inside the Sauce rather than the library, some also like to spend time chatting outside this Coffee shop, since they have chairs and tables arranged outside as well. I have never tried their Sandwiches, but the large ones are about a foot tall and they look really good! Not bad for it's price.
Photo booth
When you enter the Library, just look at the immediate left area and you will see an instant photo booth. This will be very convenient for you especially when you need your photos taken during the enrollment procedure.
Newspapers and Periodicals Reading Room
This area is located on the First floor of the BLCU library, beside the staircase. It is opened from Mondays to Saturdays from 8:00-11:30, 14:00-17:30 and 18:30-21:30. In this area, you can find a lot of reading materials including magazines and the like, but as far as I'm concerned, they have English newspapers, which you can read when you want to get updates about the World Events.
This is my secret study area. Whenever all the Quiet Study rooms are full, you can always try to visit this room because usually, there will be a free space. Once you enter the room, you'll need to get a number with a key, open a locker and leave your bag inside. Don't forget to get your things back when you leave and return the key!
Book Shops
There are 2 Book Shops inside the Library. One is located at the first floor, close to the toilet area. All the books inside are in Chinese. It sells maps of Beijing, Chinese to other languages dictionary and many others. If your Chinese is quite advanced, you can come by to buy books that you may like. The other book shop is located at the second floor. It's not very noticeable, but you just need to turn right as soon as you get up and you will see it. This book shop sells books suitable for foreigners like us. It sells all kinds of Learn Chinese Books, Dictionaries and DVD's. It also sells our own Text books! This book shop is pretty interesting, I think it has all the resources we need for our study in BLCU.
Quiet Study Room
For people who like a well-lighted and quiet place to study, you can come by the library and take a spot on it's Quiet study rooms. The quiet study room is opened from 7:00 - 22:30 daily. It is really quiet inside, barely having any noise except for people coming in and leaving the area. Also, everyone inside is studying so you can get the motivation to study yourself. But because it's free for everyone to use, it is more often than not, full.
There are I think about 3 study rooms in the BLCU library, one in every floor. You can come by at an earlier time to reserve your seat by leaving a book/notebook on top of the table. Make it appear like you're in the middle of studying by opening your book and you can come back again later when you decide to study. You can also do the same when you're out for lunch/dinner so that you're seat will not be taken from you.
Convenience Store
This store is located just beside the book shop. You can buy some snacks, bottled coffee, notebooks and other basic necessities inside. You can also enter and exit the library through this store.
Copy/Print Shop
The Copy/Print Shop is located right after the Convenience store. If you enter from the back door (exit leads to the Conference center building), you just need to walk pass a small tea shop to get here. For photocopying, it will cost you around 1 mao (1/10 of an 1 RMB) for each copy. They also offer scanning services for 2 RMB per page.
Tea House
There is a tea house located just behind the Copy/Print shop. You can try coming by to study if all other areas in the library are full. I think this area is usually less visited by students.
