Newsletter No. 455

455 • 4.4.2015 3 港鐵大學站及相鄰校園 University Station and the vicinity 鳥瞰中大校園 Seeing the Campus as Birds Do 年復一年，中大人進出校園工作和唸書，我們或許以為自己熟悉校園，真的如此？大部分 中大人都是長期逗留在室內，穿梭往來的也不外是那三數幢大樓。我們也會到校園另一 隅午膳，但只是乘慣常的車輛經由那些了然於心的道路前往。 換個角度，從高空俯瞰校園，觀感是截然不同的。冬去春來之際，一個晴天，本刊記者 登上直升機，從尖沙咀半島酒店的機坪出發，以飛鷹般的視野觀察校園。起飛後約十分 鐘，但見中大的大大小小建築似在下方昂首歡迎，它們仿如樂高方塊般散落於墨綠的植 物間，有的悠然矗立，有的窗戶反射出點點晨光。記者又看到一些綠、藍和赤褐色的幾何 圖型，想必是網球場、足球場和游泳池，筆直的海岸線更顯示了移山填海的痕跡，端的 是滄海桑田。 拍攝完畢，直升機重返地面。我們心裏明白，這次翱翔過後，看校園從此不一樣。 Year in, year out, we come to work or study at CUHK. We may think we know the campus very well. But the fact is that the majority of us spend most of our time here indoors, inside a couple or a handful of buildings at most. We may go somewhere at the other end of the campus for lunch, but usually in a familiar vehicle along roads we know by heart. Seeing the campus from above is a completely different thing. On a sunny day between winter and spring, we boarded a helicopter at the Peninsula helipad in Tsim Sha Tsui, and, for the first time, saw the campus as eagles have for decades. As the chopper neared the campus roughly 10 minutes after takeoff, we were greeted by buildings of the Chinese University the size of Lego blocks dispersed among dark-green vegetation—standing stoically or with windows winking in the morning light. We also saw geometrical shapes of green, blue and russet that we figured were tennis courts, football fields and the swimming pool. And where the harbour touched the land in a pencil-straight line, we realized that land reclamation had taken place. When the chopper touched down after the morning's shoot, we know we will never look at the campus the same ever again.