Newsletter No. 272

We Were Buil t on a Foundatio n o fRock s The Chinese University campus had its beginnings on a clean slate. Four decades ago, when the forefathers of this university received the plot of land that was to become CUHK from the govemment, there were only boulders, with minor exception. The little soil that could be salvaged from the terrain had been excavated to build the dam for Plover Cove Reservoir, Hong Kong's second largest reservoir, across Tolo Harbour. Constant Gardeners The day-to-day tas k of makin g the campu s habitable fel l t o a handful o f gardener s o f th e nursery section , thoug h botanist s an d othe r gardening expert s contributed whateve r the y knew. N o hel p wa s superfluous . Arguabl y the earliest green warriors o f the Taipo area , the shovel and bucket team soon realize d the dauntin g magnitud e o f their job . To overcom e th e proble m o f i n s u f f i c i e nt t o p s o i l , t h e y covered th e groun d w i t h a layer o f soil int o wh i c h seeds wer e sown . Bu t th e w i n d t ha t ha d bee n b l o w i n g i n f r om T o I o Harbour fo r centuries swep t e v e r y t h i ng awa y . The y drilled larg e hole s i n th e rocks, an d humus-ric h soi l the colour o f the night was mixed wit h seedling s an d carefully plante d inside . Dr. Yung Kung-hing Our First Trees D r . Y u n g K u n g - h i n g , s e n i o r college tuto r o f Chung Ch i Colleg e an d former senio r lecture r o f biology , wa s one o f th e plant-savv y academic s wh o helped ou t a t th e time . H e recalled , ' D r . Li n Daoyang , th e presiden t of Chung Ch i College , acquire d som e saplings o f th e horsetai l tree , wh i t e bamboo, lemon-scente d gum , flam e tree, an d s o on , fro m th e Departmen t of A g r i c u l t u r e an d Forestr y ( no w A g r i c u l t u r e , F i s h e r i e s a n d C o n s e r v a t i on D e p a r t m e n t ) a nd planted the m o n campu s a t Easte r in 1956, befor e th e co l l eg e o f f i c i a l l y moved in . Thes e tree s ar e amon g th e easiest t o g r ow i n H o ng Ko n g ' s climate.' Dr . Li n Daoyan g wa s th e firs t Chinese t o stud y forestr y whic h h e di d at the Universit y o f Massachusett s an d Yale University . Besides th e soi l problem , th e win d from Tol o Harbou r wa s als o pregnan t with salt . Strong winds ca n reduc e plan t growth an d damage leave s and flowers ; and salt can lea d to burnt foliage, stunte d growth o r death . B y tria l an d error , th e nursery tea m eventuall y foun d a few species o f tree s tha t coul d brav e thes e wuthering heights . The y include d pine , casuarinas an d azalea . The gree n tea m ha d othe r issue s t o grapple with suc h as parasites, irrigation , especially t o th e uppe r reache s o f th e 134-hectare campus , an d — now tha t it is sufficiently habitabl e — how t o mak e the campu s hospitable . Car e wa s take n to pain t a campus canva s that years late r would b e described a s 'one o f the mos t beautiful i n the world' b y guest s passin g through it s gates o f stone . The l a n d t o o b e c ame mo r e hospitable, a s the campus swept throug h the acacia-dominan t er a o f th e 1960 s and 70s , to the 80 s and 90 s when a host of trees i n multiple s o f green thrived o n campus. Joinin g th e garde n part y wer e jacaranda, ginkgo , banyan , bamboo , poplar, camphor , mountai n fig , roya l palm, camellia , an d s o on . An d th e remote an d wind y Sha w College , onc e the headach e o f the nurser y team , no w sports som e o f the mos t l u x u r i an t vegetation o n campus . Environment over Development, Then and Now Inevitably suc h progres s ha s bee n a c c o m p a n i e d b y g r o w t h i n denominators o f gre y a s th e campu s needs mor e road s and building s t o cop e w i t h a b u r g e o n i n g a c a d e m i c c o mm u n i t y . On e o f t he b i gge s t challenges facin g the Universit y a s wel l as go v e r nmen t s ha s bee n h o w to balance environmenta l preservatio n w i t h th e demand s o f deve l opmen t. Perhaps the issu e should no t b e phrase d as an 'either/or ' a s it implies that we ca n only choos e on e o r th e other , whe n instead w e ca n sometime s hav e both , as the Universit y ha s striven t o show . Back i n the 1960s , according t o Dr . Yung, th e architectura l pla n fo r th e Elisabeth Luc e Moor e Librar y i n Chun g Chi Colleg e wa s revise d t o mov e th e l i b r a ry w i t h t h e sol e pu r po s e o f preserving a few longa n and lyche e trees from a village tha t ha d ha d a n earlie r claim o n th e origina l site . Th e tree s belonged t o Ne w M a Li u Shu i Village , which ha d been relocate d to the Fa n ling 4 No. 27 2 19t h January 200 6