Found Space

Cultivating Green Chung Chi

2024-03-20

Campus Newsletter / Found Space

 

Since the early stage of establishment, Chung Chi has been attaching significance to campus greening. In 1956, the College arranged 20 servitors to assist in digging and tree planting at the existing campus site, Ma Liu Shui. In 1957, with the donation of four thousand saplings from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF, now known as the “Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department”), the College mobilised students from various departments to engage in tree planting on the campus. They laid broadleaf carpet grass on the slopes with gray mud, and had a mass planting of rhododendrons and Chinese roses, among others. In 1958, the College curated a botanical garden on the campus in particular and planted 72 rare local species such as Lingnan garcinia and desert rose purchased from DAFF. Moreover, each plant was accompanied with wood signs showing its name in Latin, Chinese, and English for public viewing. In 1959, in response to the green campaign initiated by the Hong Kong Government, the College held an Arbor Day on 17 April and distributed brochures to all staff, students, and nearby villagers to promote the benefits of tree planting. Afterwards, hundreds of Chung Chi-ers were mobilised to plant saplings of pine and Eucalyptus on the highlands of the campus. In 1960, the College Campus Committee purchased weeping willows, rhododendrons, and others from various nurseries in Hong Kong and Kowloon to embellish the campus. A fabulous palette of over three hundred rhododendrons were planted on the hillside grassland, and more than a thousand camphor trees as well as hundreds of flame trees and pine trees along the roadside. In 1961, the College purchased a thousand saplings of banana shrub, Yulan magnolia, and cypress from DAFF, and planted trees and laid stones surrounding the periphery of the campus for cultivating flowers. Thanks to Chung Chi teachers’ and students’ wholehearted dedication to greening Chung Chi, the barren land in the old days was turned into a vibrantly verdant and secluded garden with a stunning array of blossoms.

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