CUHK Campus Wild History, Sequel: Water Towers in Love, the Million-Dollar Mall, Lake Ad Excellentiam, and the Pavilion of Harmony

⚠️ This article belongs to the wild-history module (15 Campus Wild History · Anecdotes · Remarks), continuing campus-legends-and-landmarks.md. Folk tales are explicitly marked "unverified" in :::lore callouts; factual claims about a landmark's construction/naming carry official or reliable sources. Living individuals are referred to as "Mr./Ms. [surname]" or by title; neutral/positive facts about artists, architects, donors, and deceased founding scholars are recorded by name per the sources (proper nouns excepted). Political events of 2019 and after (e.g. the Million-Dollar Mall's brief popular renaming as "Lennon Wall" in 2019) are not narrated here — a single sentence of context only; the full account lives in module 18.

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Two water towers imagined by students as a pair of lovers, a plaza whose name no two people can agree on, a once-turbid lotus pond that became a "water-and-sky merge into one" campus secret — at CUHK, the most unassuming infrastructure (a water tank, a piazza, a pond) often carries the richest collective imagination. This sequel recounts four landmark tales.

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# 1. The "Beacon Tower" (Chung Gate) Revisited: Survival, Renaming, and the "Gate of Wisdom"

This section supplements and corrects the account of the Beacon Tower/Chung Gate in campus-legends-and-landmarks.md §1; the full record of its creation, donation, and naming is in ju-ming-gate-and-pavilion-of-harmony.md. Per multiple sources, the "Beacon Tower", "Chung Gate" and "Gate of Wisdom" are in fact different names for one and the same sculpture — not three separate landmarks.

# 1.1 Origins and creator

According to the Chung Gate Wikipedia entry^※, the bronze sculpture was created in 1986 by Taiwanese sculptor Ju Ming, as the first formal work of the "Arch series" concluding his "Taichi series"; it was originally called simply "Gate". Donated to CUHK by the University's first architect Szeto Wai, it was unveiled in December 1987 at the eastern end of the University Mall, before the main entrance of the University Library. Students later attached to it the urban legend that "anyone who passes through it will never graduate" (some versions claim expulsion, or worse).

# 1.2 The 2008 survival controversy (a heritage-conservation case)

According to the Chung Gate Wikipedia entry^※, the University Library was to be expanded for the four-year curriculum, and in 2008 the then Vice-Chancellor (referred to in this controversy as "the then Vice-Chancellor, Mr. X") proposed the sculpture's temporary removal, drawing fierce opposition from CUHK students; following the protest, the sculpture was retained.

This is one of the representative cases of landmark survival/heritage conservation on the CUHK campus, mutually corroborated by another conservation incident in the same area — the Beacon Tower serving as a stage for student movements and, in 2008, facing demolition for the library expansion before faculty, students, and alumni petitions saved it, as compiled by CU Student Press^※ (the two sources corroborate each other on the "planned demolition in 2008 for the library expansion, retained after opposition" point).

# 1.3 Ju Ming renames it "Chung Gate"

According to the Chung Gate Wikipedia entry^※, when Ju Ming later returned to CUHK around 2006 for a restoration project, he heard the students' "never graduate" legend and, wanting students to feel the sculpture was approachable and passable, renamed it "Chung Gate" (仲門), with the English title "Gate of Wisdom". In December 2011, Ju Ming delivered a lecture at CUHK titled "Art as Spiritual Practice" and received an honorary doctorate.

A correction: the earlier chapter recorded Ju Ming's "2011 lecture response to the legend" as the counterpart version of the legend. Per this revision, the renaming happened during the c. 2006 restoration (not in 2011); 2011 was the honorary-doctorate lecture occasion. The two should be told separately. Per the artist's own position, the sculpture's meaning is "success through passing through the gate" — at odds with the folk "never graduate if you walk through" tale.

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# 2. New Asia–United: the "Gentleman's Tower", the "Lady's Tower", and Lover's Path

# 2.1 The twin towers and the naming legend

Per the CU Student Press compilation^※, New Asia College and United College each possess a water tower built in the 1970s to store and supply fresh and salt water — a purely utilitarian function that forms a stark contrast with the romantic imagination later attached to them. According to the Szeto Wai Wikipedia entry^※, both towers are likewise the work of Szeto Wai — CUHK's first architect (in office 1963–1978), who not only planned the campus's overall layout and donated the "Gate" (later the Chung Gate), but also designed these two towers that would one day be fitted out with a love story.

Folk imagination anthropomorphised the towers by their differing silhouettes: the New Asia tower, with its straight, rigid lines, was dubbed the "Gentleman's Tower"; the United tower, softer in outline, the "Lady's Tower". Students tell of the two as "a pair in the throes of love" — the Gentleman's Tower faces the Lady's Tower, "gazing" as if into her eyes, while she "turns shyly aside to escape his burning stare". Tales also circulate of students trying to sneak inside the towers; per this source, the towers are now fitted with security cameras and padlocked, so the early "tower-raiding" escapades are a thing of the past.

One designer, two very different afterlives: the "Gate" designed by Szeto Wai was solemnly renamed by the artist himself to defuse a superstition (see previous section); the two water towers he designed were, without a second thought, cast by students into a romance that has never needed any "correction of the record" — the same architect's works met two wholly different "fates of interpretation" in campus collective memory, a further proof that folk narratives in campus wild history run on their own logic, beyond the designer's control.

# 2.2 Lover's Path

Per the same source, a shortcut connecting New Asia and United (currently the only two adjacent colleges) is called "Lover's Path" (情人路), located behind Bethlehem Hall: shorter than the shuttle-bus route, it earned its name from its narrowness, which forces walkers to proceed shoulder to shoulder; it offers views of Tolo Harbour along the way, turns quiet after nightfall, and — per this student-media account — serves as a spot for students to sit and "talk at length". It also adds a layer of imagination to the towers' love story: "the twin towers in love" and "walking together along Lover's Path" chime with each other geographically. This item is campus-culture lore as self-described by student media; marked self-account.

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# 3. The Million-Dollar Mall (the University Mall): A Name with Many Stories, and a Debate over a Midnight Mahjong Game

# 3.1 Naming legends

According to the University Mall Wikipedia entry^※, the central piazza running through CUHK's main campus between the University Library (west) and the Science Centre (east) has the official name "the University Mall", forming with its surrounding buildings the "University Piazza"; students, however, habitually call it the "Million-Dollar Mall" (百萬大道). The entry states plainly that the name's origin is "a matter of many accounts … no one knows which is right". The circulating origin legends include:

Per the entry, the Million-Dollar Mall is the core space for the University's public ceremonies and events — graduation ceremonies, live broadcasts of ball games, student-organisation activities (such as the "Arts Fair") are mostly held here; the CU Student Press^※ likewise records it as a venue for student gatherings and creative events. For the construction/planning facts of the landmark, see 05-campus/building-directory.md.

# 3.2 A midnight mahjong game: who defines "public space"?

According to the source, on the evening of 22 September 2016, around ten o'clock, six students brought mooncakes to the Million-Dollar Mall near the Science Centre end (in front of the large university emblem) to admire the moon and play mahjong, claiming the game involved no money and caused no noise or traffic disturbance; around three in the morning, campus security asked them to stop, and the students registered their identities and dispersed. The incident was later reported by CU Student Press. The then Vice-Chancellor (referred to by title here per the BLP policy) then published a response, stating that while the students' mahjong session had not seriously disturbed staff, it lacked the decorum expected of a scholar, and that he was concerned casual activities — mahjong, graffiti, or indecent behaviour — on the "Million-Dollar Mall" might hurt the feelings of the CUHK community, and hoped students would learn responsibility.

Multiple positions side by side:

From the University/administration's view (synthesised from coverage): the Million-Dollar Mall is CUHK's "shop window" and space of public ceremony; those using it, staff and students alike, should mind appearances and decorum, and overly casual private recreation (such as card games) risks damaging the University's image;

From the students involved and parts of public opinion (synthesised from CU Student Press reporting and commentary): mahjong involved no rule-breaking and disturbed no one; whether a temporary use of an empty plaza at midnight is "improper" is a subjective judgement; the incident was seized upon to raise a more fundamental question — "by whom, and through what procedure, should the rules for using public space be defined", rather than decided unilaterally by management; one reader's letter went so far as to ask "Mr. Vice-Chancellor, do you really understand the Million-Dollar Mall?", questioning whether management's understanding of the space's history and function was up to par.

This apparently lightweight "mahjong kerfuffle" actually touches the same proposition as the "2008 Beacon Tower demolition controversy": should the meaning and boundaries of use of the campus's core public space be set by the administration's standard of "decorum", or by students' actual habits of use? This archive presents both positions side by side and rules on neither.

Note: the Million-Dollar Mall has long been a site of campus gatherings; in 2019 it was briefly called the "Lennon Wall" by some amid the social events, prompting a University statement reserving the right to take disciplinary action. This section concerns highly politicised gatherings from 2019 onwards and is not narrated here; related external sources are in 18-wilder-movements/source-directory.md.

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# 4. Lake Ad Excellentiam: The Lake, the Bridges, and the Philosophy

# 4.1 Name and meaning

According to the Chung Chi College official page^※, the most famous landmark of Chung Chi College — the lake "Lake Ad Excellentiam" (Chinese: 未圓湖) — takes its name in response to the College motto "In Pursuit of Excellence" (止於至善). Per the source, "未圓" (literally "not yet full/circular") means that perfection is yet to be achieved — urging one to keep striving toward "completeness". The lake was originally called the "Lily Pond / Lotus Pond" (荷花池).

# 4.2 Physical history and the lake's bridges

According to the Chung Chi official page^※ and the CU Student Press compilation^※, the site was originally farmland with streams and fish ponds around the village of Liu Pok Liu (馬料水); in the late 1960s it gradually became a lotus pond — though per the CU Student Press account, the pond water was turbid and unpleasant to look at in its early days. In the mid-1990s (the Chung Chi official page puts it around 1997), with alumni support, Chung Chi College carried out a major renovation, adding two bridges across the lake — the present-day view. The two bridges carry symbolic meanings: the Crooked Bridge (east) mirrors the ups and downs of life, and the Arched Bridge (west) conveys a similar idea — but "one can always cross the bridge and reach the other shore". A path along the shore is named the "Philosophy Path", where one may "ponder life like a philosopher", and nearby is a planting trimmed into the Chinese characters of the College motto. In autumn, the red leaves by the lake are, per student-media accounts, ranked among "the most enchanting views on the CUHK campus".

# 4.3 Student anecdotes

Per the CU Student Press compilation^※, Lake Ad Excellentiam is a popular spot for students' lawn picnics and couples' strolls; tales also circulate of students "going for a swim in the lake at midnight" — though the campus has proper swimming pools, some students still prefer "wild swimming" in the lake, which per this source counts as one of the campus's unspoken "traditions". This item is a self-account record from student media.

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# 5. The Pavilion of Harmony and the "Heaven-and-Man-Unity" View (New Asia College)

According to the Pavilion of Harmony Wikipedia entry^※ and the New Asia College Wikipedia entry^※, New Asia College's Pavilion of Harmony was completed and opened on 12 December 2003, built to commemorate New Asia founder Mr. Ch'ien Mu and his essay "On the Unity of Heaven and Man" (天人合一論); it was donated by Ms. Ng Chung-lam and designed by architect Prof. Chan Wai-kei. For full design details, the donor research, and a comparison with the "Gate of Wisdom", see ju-ming-gate-and-pavilion-of-harmony.md §2.

• The pool before the pavilion aligns with the horizon of Tolo Harbour, creating a "water and sky merge into one" effect; per the source, the design aims to evoke the ideal of "heaven and man as one (天人合一)", and the view is thus popularly called "天人合一". The then Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ambrose King, praised it as "Hong Kong's second finest view";
• The text of Ch'ien Mu's "On the Unity of Heaven and Man" carved on the pavilion's outer wall and the "heaven-and-man-as-one" seal are, per the entry, respectively the calligraphy of Prof. Lee Yun-wan (formerly of the Art Department) and the work of Prof. Tang Kam-tang of the Art Department (both neutral/positive facts, recorded by name per the sources).

Mr. Ch'ien Mu was the founder of New Asia College and a deceased founding scholar; per this archive's rules, he is recorded by name in neutral/positive historical contexts (cf. 10-colleges/new-asia-college.md and 13-governance-and-reform/fulton-reform-and-college-autonomy.md).

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# 6. A Common Thread Through Five Landmark Tales: Who Gets to "Name" the Campus?

Read this article together with the previous one (campus-legends-and-landmarks.md), and a recurring undercurrent in CUHK campus wild history emerges: the official name and intended meaning often loses out to another narrative collectively imagined by students —

• The "Gate" was formally re-christened the "Gate of Wisdom"; students still call it the "Beacon Tower" and still believe in the "no graduation" curse;
• A plain water-supply facility was imagined by students as a pair of pining lovers;
• Almost no one uses the official name "University Mall"; everyone calls it the "Million-Dollar Mall", and even its naming origin is unsettled;
• The "Lotus Pond" was renamed "Lake Ad Excellentiam" after renovation — but informal tales like "midnight swimming" keep writing its unofficial side.

The "Pavilion of Harmony" is the one exception — its official meaning (heaven and man as one) and its popular perception (the "water-and-sky" view hailed as "Hong Kong's second finest") coincide to a rare degree; perhaps because, from the very start of its design, "meaning" and "visual experience" were deliberately fused, leaving the least room for the folk imagination to go elsewhere. This archive records the friction between these namings and narratives without ruling on which is more "true" — the meaning of a campus landmark is never definable by any single source.

Related reading: Campus Wild History: the Beacon Tower and the Goddess Statue, Ju Ming's "Gate of Wisdom" and New Asia's "Pavilion of Harmony" — a textual investigation, New Asia College — extended archive.

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