I went to visit Chinese University of Hong Kong the other week for a day seminar with some local and mainland students and could appreciate one of Hong Kong’s top universities for the first time (update : Chinese University of Hong Kong was recently ranked as Asia’s 2nd best university). They surprised me with a few lectures in jargon-filled Chinese, so I used that time to walk around the university and try and explore some of the differences between Chinese-U and where I study – Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST).
While HKUST is set with a gorgeous bay view, Chinese University is more about the mountain, making it a bit more difficult to explore by foot. The eastern side of the campus, if you study there or manage to get that far, does have some nice views of the near by bay. Chinese-U is far larger than HKUST and usually requires a shuttle bus to move around.
There is some inviting natural scenery in the campus and since I was there on a public holiday I could see a few other guided hiking local groups going up the university mountain through some of the nature trails.
The seminar was very different than what I’m used to in HKUST. Luckily, the HKUST MGTO seminars are very open and interactive, allowing for alot of exchange and encouraging participants to voice their opinion. That seminar at Chinese U seemed more held back in a style resembling what I recall from Taiwan. I think the most interesting part was talking to some of the local Chinese U students and the visiting mainlanders from Sun Yat Sen University in Shenzhen and learning about what topics they’re interested in.
It was my impression, summarizing my short visit to the university and the seminar, that HKUST might be slightly more international and friendly towards the average international visitor. If you have any other thoughts on that from a Chinese-U perspective, I’m interested.