Back To University.

The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Yesterday I went to Chinese University to see my friend Agnes who lectures there. As well as wanting to meet up with Agnes, I also wanted to take a look around the university campus, because it is said to be the most beautiful university campus in Hong Kong.

The Chinese University of Hong Kong was established in 1963 when three colleges - Chung Chi College, New Asia College, and United College - joined together. This makes it the second oldest university in Hong Kong. It's also the largest of Hong Kong's universities in terms of area, as it occupies 138.4 hectares of land and houses a hundred and sixty-nine different buildings.

To get to the university I took the train to University Station on the East Rail Line and exited through Exit D. To get onto the campus I had to pass through a security check. I was able to show I had an appointment with a member of staff at the university, but Agnes told me I would still have been able to enter even if I hadn't. I would just have needed to show some identification.

Once past the checkpoint, I headed straight to the university lake on Chung Chi Campus. I passed by a very colourful staircase on route. The lake I was heading to was at one time simply known as the lily pond, but nowadays, after going through a major renovation, it has a grander title -The Lake Ad Excellentiam. This echoes the motto of Chung Chi College - 'In Pursuit of Excellence'. The path around the lake probably also used to be just a path, but now it's The Philosophy Path, where students can wander around while contemplating the meaning of life, or perhaps just what they'll have for dinner that evening. Who knows? Either way it's a lovely place for a stroll.

Colourful staircase.

Chung Chi College.

There are two bridges over the lake. One is known as The Crooked Bridge and the other is The Arched Bridge. Together these bridges are meant to represent the twists and turns and ups and downs of life, but of course, as they are bridges they also imply that it's possible to pass over these and come out the other side.

The Arched Bridge.

The Arched Bridge.

Me by The Arched Bridge.

The Crooked Bridge.

The Crooked Bridge.

There was a statue at the side of the lake and there were floral tributes all around it. I later found out this was a statue of Chinese philosopher, Lao Siguang.

The statue of Chinese philosopher, Lao Siguang.

I liked the little red pavillion with a green roof, which was situated next to the lake. It looked very picturesque.This is known as The Lions Pavilion, as it was funded by The Lions Club of Hong Kong in the late 1970's.

The Lions Pavilion across the water.

The Lions Pavilion across the water.

The Lions Pavilion.

No self respecting university is without its ghost stories and there is one about this lake. Apparently a female university student had arranged to meet her boyfriend by the lake one evening, but he failed to turn up and she later saw him with another girl and realised he was two-timing her. She was so heartbroken that she threw herself into the lake and drowned. Nowadays her ghost wanders the paths around the lake and if she sees a male student wandering by himself (contemplating the meaning of life or what to have for dinner) she will approach him and ask him the time. If he answers her, she will drag him into the lake and drown him.

Reflections in the lake.

Reflections in the lake.

Reflections in the lake.

Bougainvillea.

I must admit as I was wandering around, a young male student came towards me and I was severely tempted to ask him the time just to see if he would scream and run away, but I controlled myself and behaved.

Lily pads in the lake.

Trees surround the lake.

Right at the end of the lake I noticed a monument. I'm not sure what it commemorates.

Monument.

The Chinese University of Hong Kong has the greenest campus of all the universities here and it's also one of the hilliest with many buildings situated on the slopes of the mountains. To get to where Agnes was I took bus number 2. It's not that I minded walking, but it's actually really easy to get lost here and without the bus I felt I'd never find where I wanted to go. Several bus routes serve the university's spread out campus.

I should have got off the bus at New Asia College, but I deliberately got off one stop early at United College, as I saw there was an excellent view point there and I wanted to take some pictures. The views over Tolo Harbour reminded me of the views from our roof garden when we lived in Sha Tin.

Looking down on the library.

View from United College.

View from United College.

View over Tolo Harbour from United College.

View from United College.

View from United College.

View from United College.

After enjoying the view, I walked onwards towards New Asia College. Before phoning Agnes to say I had arrived, I went to The Pavilion of Harmony. This dates from 2003 and was built as a tribute to Chien Mu, one of the New Asia College founders. It's meant to illustrate his work 'The Theory of the Union of Man and Nature'. The pavilion contains a reflective infinity pool which when viewed from a certain angle appears to be connected to Tolo Harbour. It was a very cloudy day and probably not the best for viewing it, but it was still pretty.

The Pavilion of Harmony.

The Pavilion of Harmony.

Me at The Pavilion of Harmony.

View from The Pavilion of Harmony.

View from The Pavilion of Harmony.

View towards Tai Po from New Asia College

View towards Tai Po from New Asia College.

View towards Tai Po from New Asia College.

I noticed another interesting structure which Agnes later told me was a water tower. In fact the university has two water towers. The New Asia College Water Tower is known as The Gentleman Tower and The United College Water Tower is known as The Lady Tower. Both of these structures date back to the 1970's and are no longer in use. Apparently the towers have security cameras on them as students like to try and break in and climb up them. There would certainly be a fantastic view if you could get to the top.

Water tower, New Asia College.

Near the New Asia College water tower there's a statue of Tang Chun-I, a Chinese philosopher who helped found the college and a statue of Confucius. The founders of New Asia College liked the idea of a modern China that still placed a lot of importance on Confucian principles.

Statue of Tang Chun-I.

Confucius.

I also noticed an interesting looking clock tower, which was apparently designed by a student in the university's architecture department.

Clock tower.

Having completed my sightseeing, I then tried to contact Agnes. I was under the impression I was in New Asia College, as that was written next to the building I was in. I hadn't realised that New Asia College was a collection of buildings rather than the name of one building. Nonetheless, I did eventually manage to reach Agnes on the phone and she came and got me.

New Asia College.

Mural outside New Asia College.

Agnes's students were busily working on an assignment. I had a chat with a very pleasant Vietnamese student who told me she had already completed her work.

When the lesson was over, Agnes, her friend Martin and I all went for lunch. We stopped off at The Pavilion of Harmony for a photo again first. When I visited originally there was noone there, but a busload of Mainland tourists had arrived to take photos. Apparently it is a very popular sight and a big hit on Instagram.

Agnes and I at The Pavilion of Harmony.

Agnes and I at The Pavilion of Harmony.

We went for lunch in The United College Staff Canteen. The vegetable dishes: pak choi and cucumber with peanuts were fine, so were the shrimp dumplings, but the meat dishes were either a bit too oily or undercooked, so we weren't that impressed with the food.

Pak choi.

Cucumber.

Siu Mai.

Shrimp dumplings.

Beef noodle.

Pork ribs that were very undercooked.

Building opposite where we are lunch. United College Adam Schall Residence.

After lunch, Martin headed off and Agnes showed me around the campus a bit more. Agnes works for The School of Journalism and Communication which is located in The Humanities Building. We returned there and Agnes showed me the lecture halls and filming equipment.She made me pose with some filming equipment, so I could pretend to be an on the spot newshound.

School of Journalism and Communication.

Standing in front of the newspapers.

Filming equipment.

My new career.

After that we went to see the walkway between the University Library and the Science Centre, which is normally referred to by its nickname 'The Million Boulevard." Some people say this name comes from the fact that the walkway cost a million Hong Kong dollars to build back in the 1970's, others say it's because the pattern on the tiles looks like the character for a thousand and lots and lots of thousands will make a million.

The Million Boulevard.

The Million Boulevard.

As we approached the library, we could see The Gate of Wisdom sculpture. University legend states that any undergraduate who walks through the centre of this sculpture will never graduate. Many universities have a similar belief associated with other sculptures.

Gate of Wisdom.

Library.

Another interesting place to have a look at was The Institute of Chinese Studies. This had a pretty court yard style garden with ponds, poinsettias and a statue of American Chinese economist, Li Choh-ming.

Institute of Chinese Studies.

Agnes in The Institute of Chinese Studies.

Li Choh-ming statue.

We also took a look at some of the university's sports facilities such as its beautiful swimming pool. Agnes told me the students have to attend PE lessons when they enrol on a course.

Swimming pool.

Swimming pool.

Sports facilities.

It was time to head back downhill to the MTR. Luckily Agnes knew exactly where she was going, because I was soon completely lost. We went through an array of buildings, down a series of lifts and eventually reached the station. On route we passed a few places with beautiful views.

I liked the look of this building, don't know what it is.

View on the walk down.

View on the walk down.

View on the walk down.

View on the walk down.

It had been a very enjoyable day despite the weather. It was lovely to catch up with Agnes and to meet her friend. I hope to go back at some point when I will also visit the university museums and I have read that the trees around the lake are beautiful in autumn when they change colour.