Liyuan Library. [Photo/VCG]

7. Liyuan Library, Beijing

Nestled in mountains of Huairou on the outskirts of Beijing, the Liyuan Library is a cozy place to escape from the crowded urban life in Beijing. It houses over 10,000 books ranging from works of literature and art to history and philosophy.

The most outstanding part in its structure is that the exterior walls and roof of the 170-square-meter library are covered with 40,000 firewood sticks.

The building was one of the winning designs in the 2013 Architecture of Necessity competition in Sweden, designed by Li Xiaodong, a Chinese architect and professor of Tsinghua University.