Pavilion of Harmony

Sincerely I had not dug deep into the bits and pieces of Chinese University campus before. My only knowledge 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 only 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.