On our third day in Hong Kong, Tom and I met my college study abroad roommate Rita for a trek up to the New Territories to visit our alma mater, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. (I would return there after college to study for my master’s degree.)
We began our self-guided tour at Chung Chi College, which sits at the foot of the mountain on which CUHK is situated. To me it’s the most scenic college on campus.
The lily pond has been expanded since I graduated in 1996.
But the pagoda has been there since I first arrived at CUHK in 1990.
While we waited for the university bus up to take us to the top of the campus, we saw a Hakka woman who helped keep the grounds clean and beautiful.
We strolled around New Asia College on top of the mountain. It’s dotted with bamboo groves.
Next we visited United College, where I lived that undergraduate year and attended most of my graduate classes. This is the dorm where Rita and I lived some 22 years ago.
My grad school department is still located in this building. When I studied here, most of the buildings were walk-ups. Now they all have elevators.
We entered the third floor and briefly looked around.
Next we made our way down to the central part of the campus, where we would meet with the great folks of the Alumni Affairs Office for a dim sum lunch.
And what a bountiful lunch it was. Back during my years in Hong Kong, I ate many a lunch and dinner at the same staff canteen where we enjoyed dim sum that day. While the campus seems more crowded now with many new buildings, it’s nice to return to familiar territory.
For dinner that evening, we headed back to Hong Kong Island to meet up with six amazing friends, including Rita, at the uber-cool Tsui Wah on Des Voeux Road.
And then I somehow ended up behind the Cathay ticket counter at Central’s Airport Express terminal.
Never a dull moment in Hong Kong, eh?
How fantastic!! It is terrific to follow your journey and I do believe there is something different about being in Asia and spontaneity. Maybe it’s that no one really pays much attention, or maybe people are more relaxed? Hmmm…have to think about this a bit more.
Thanks so much! I agree about how things are more relaxed in Asia. Maybe it’s easier to trust folks there because there’s not so much violent crime. And when you stand out so much, people expect you to be different so there’s more leeway. That goes with what you wrote about people not paying attention.
Nope, you’re absolutely right. Never a dull moment! 🙂
It’s funny how it’s so easy and safe to go with the flow in Hong Kong, whereas in the US I tend to be more guarded. Maybe there just aren’t as many opportunities to be spontaneous in the US?
Looks like you’re living and reliving the dream! What a great flashback to the past! Hope to hear more from ur posts!
Thank you, Anju! I must apologize a thousand times to you. Every time we walked out of the hotel, I meant to take a photo of Hankow Centre. It was across the street! But without fail, it was always pouring or we didn’t have our camera. On the final morning, I meant to as we left the hotel, but the airport shuttle pulled up before we’d crossed the street, so we ran for it and made it. I promise (really) next time to take that photo!
Nice to see your campus is still there, still mostly the same! What a beautiful university.
I still mourn that my old college in Zhengzhou, where I first taught, no longer exists as I know it. I think they turned the foreign teachers dorms into apartments, and the rest of it into government offices. Bizarre.
Wow, I’d be devastated if the campus disappeared! That’s terribly tragic about your university in Zhengzhou!