Bulletin Spring‧Summer 2005

H ow e v e r it remains to be seen if H u a L ien Tang does indeed have few e r mosquitoes. Heaven and Earth T h e re are m a n y o th e r tree s w o r th m en tion ing on campus. A t the ju nction o f U n iv e rs ity Road and the L ib ra ry B o u le va rd (near the fla g p o le s ) is a m a je s tic M o u n ta in F ig . A t e ig h t metres ta ll, w ith a diam e te r at breast h e ig h t o f o v e r th ree m etres an d a c ro w n o f 25 metres, it is a do cum ented K in g o f Trees in H o n g K o n g . The campus also features variou s ty p e s o f b a n y a n , f ir , p in e , po p la r, bamboo, cam ellia and palm . There are also cotton trees and a m o u n ta in fu l o f Taiwan acacia and horsetail. A row o f tow e rin g ro ya l palm s guard the carriagew ay ou tside the T in K a P in g B u ild in g lik e s o lem n s e n tin e ls standing th e ir post. One o f them suffered from a ru p tu re d tru n k w h e n smashed b y a reckless lo rry several years ago. Fortunately, w ith p roper treatm ent, it s u rv iv e d the accident, b u t the tree has to wear steel retainers fo r the rest o f its life. There are also the rain tree next to Science Centre and the cam p ho r tree on C e n tra l A venue ; the frangipani in fron t o f the Fung K in g H e y B uild ing w h ic h flow e rs secretively in early summ er; the w h ite jade o rc h id , b la c k bam boo, s a p o d illa , comm on elaeocarpus, hainan elaeocarpus and heteropanax in Shaw College; the s ilk oak and lebbeck tree, the big-leaved fig sown by Dr. T.C. Cheng, and the flam e o f the forest p la n te d in m em o ry o f alumna, Dr. Tse Yuen M an in U n ited College; as w e ll as different kinds o f trees planted b y graduates and alum n i o f N ew Asia College. It w o u ld take a sizeable volum e to record them all w ith illustrations that do them justice. R a b in d ra n a th Tagore says, ‘Trees are the ea rth 's endless e ffo rt to speak to the lis te n in g h e a ve n .' H o w blessed w e are at C U H K th a t everyday we can w itness the earth speaking and heaven lis te n in g . We have a b e a u tifu l campus v ib ra n t w ith v e g e ta tio n in a ll shades o f the ra in b ow . They deserve o u r u tm o s t e ffo rts at n u rtu rin g and p re se rv a tio n , and an exce llent w a y to start is b y m a king o u r acquaintance w ith the p la n t life around us. Mountain Fig — documented King of Trees in Hong Kong