The Western style building where famous writer Eilleen Chang was born will be reopen to the public in Shanghai on Sunday after nearly a year of renovations. (Original story and photos from Shanghai Jing’an District WeChat account; compiled by Zhang Heng)

At No. 85 Kangding East Road by the Suzhou River is a free-standing garden building. It was built at the beginning of the last century and has a history of more than one hundred years. It was once the property of well-known Qing Dynasty official Li Hongzhang. Li gave the building as a dowry to his daughter, who later became Chang’s grandmother.

To preserve the time-honored building, the local government bought the house in 2008 and carried out renovations twice. “During this renovation, we looked through a lot of previous historical materials and old photos, consulted architectural experts and designers, and tried our best to restore its original appearance,” said a government official.

Eileen Chang’s study room.

Log structure inside the building.

Salon classroom for events.

Theater with a capacity of 180 people.

Automatic borrowing and returning machine equipment in the library on the first floor.

Children’s reading room.