The first time I came to this place was when I was in high school anxiously waiting for my public…read moreexamination result and came for the orientation camp. The entire campus was packed but there was this lake that got my attention right off the batch and it is called Weiyuan Lake or Lake Ad Excellentiam. Its Chinese name literally means "unfinished lake". I am not much of a philosophical person I believe with the bridges across the lake, I knew that there must be some kind of meaning behind this, so I went to ask quite a lot of students who were from one of the colleges there , Chung Chi college and surprisingly... none of them knew why it was called Weiyuan Lake... Anyways, I remember back then the water condition was rather bad and you could see mosquitoes everywhere, IT WAS HORRIBLE, which reaffirms the notion that The Chinese University of Hong Kong is located in countryside and you would have lots of opportunities to be friends with little insects. Yet, I cannot disagree that this lake in fact is nicely constructed with the lotus blossoming and the Chinese pavilion which becomes a popular picture spot for graduates. Who would have thought after a few months and I had become a student there. The only regret I had was I did not come all the way down to Chung Chi and have a picture there during my graduation as I spent most of my time atop the hill. However, for others, this lake certainly captions the essence of Chinese gardening; so bring your camera.

The Plover Cover Reservoir is one of Hong Kong's biggest body of freshwater- apart from serving as…read morea source of water; this reservoir is now a major attraction in itself. On the main sea wall separating the lake from Tolo Harbour, a road stretches over from Tai Mei Tuk right to the other side of the reservoir. On weekends you will see entire families enjoy a range of activities such as cycling, kite flying and just a simple stroll along the bank. This is a particularly scenic location as you have two bodies of water at this location, one being the reservoir and the other being the harbor, whereby the harbor usually has more activities such as sailing boats, ships and even wake boarders - the reservoir bans all such activities and its just a calm lake with a backdrop of the hills behind it. With Hongkongers increasingly embracing the outdoors and looking for different locations to enjoy activities, this is a location that truly caters to the entire family. Apart from the main bank, there is also the numerous spots for BBQ along the side of the reservoir. These become quite busy as well with families coming to enjoy the great outdoors and parking becomes non- existent.

Sincerely I had not dug deep into the bits and pieces of Chinese University campus before. My only…read moreknowledge of the place was limited to one or two landmarks; the campus being much larger than HKU, covering the whole of the mountain; plus a few of the famous food items from their canteens. Luckily, there was one time when I visited the graduation show of CU Architectural Department, and a cool friend took me on a petite tour around the campus. The most special place that struck me was the Pavilion of Harmony next to some dormitory buildings, designed by an ex-architecture department professor Freeman Chan. In fact, it is merely as small pond at the top of a mole, embracing an age-old tree. When you go up the narrow ramp on the side, or simply walk up the few steps to the terrace where the pond sits, you would suddenly see this small pond, linking seamlessly with the ocean and the sky wayyyy beyond. There is also a narrow footpath on its side abutting the slope downwards, where you can overview the whole of the Science Park below. With just one simple gesture, it multiplies the sensations that the scene of this small mole brings to you. This is what good architecture would do to a natural scenery. It prooves that the act of building doesn't always equate destruction, but can also elevate and accentuate a place, when done right.

During my registration day here at CUHK I heard so much about each college (back then there were…read moreonly four - New Asia, Chung Chi, United and Shaw) and had been struggling to choose which one I should go for. Then I heard someone said this - "No final year project in New Asia". Okay, that just made my choice very easily. Thanks! If you ask me, I really do not know much about Chinese literature but one thing I know for certain is that Chinese literature and culture seem rather interwoven with New Asia college. You can tell by the statue of Confucius in the middle of the lawn where people often take pictures with it. Another thing I like about this college is that New Asia is always the destination for most school buses. As a person who often finds myself lost in the middle of nowhere, knowing that I will get to NA no matter which school bus I hop on certainly makes it all better. Unfortunately I had to say I was not that involved with the college activities and I was not that hardworking as a student, you can picture me burying my head in my laptop writing papers during assembly. Anyways, let me sum this up: I like that New Asia is a rather chill college that does not require you to take all kind of sports competition, does not make you a easy target during some chanting between colleges, and certainly does not make you worry about whether you will have enough marks to get a room in the dormitory.