Knowing that Hong Kong was a large and densely populated city, I thought my campus would be all cement, not pretty at all. This could not be further from the truth. This campus is relatively far from the downtown area of Hong Kong, giving the campus a certain quietness about it.

The campus is right next to a bay that I can see from my window. When I look at the bay, the water is grayish, due to the mist that always seems to be hanging over it. Beyond the bay there are tall skyscrapers that seem to be apartment buildings. At night, their lights along with the distant streetlights break the monotony of the darkness on the horizon.

I walk up a road that is carved into the mountain that our campus resides on. On one side, there is a steep downward slope with lots of vegetation growing on it. On the other side, a virtual wall from the mountainside. In one place the upward incline is about as tall as the five or six story building that sits on it. In other places, buildings are built into the side of the mountain. Many buildings are much like Friley Hall in that the first floor is above ground on one side of the building and below the ground on the other side. These buildings cover up the side of the mountain, and almost make one forget that there is even a mountain behind those classrooms and lecture halls.

In certain places along the road tall bamboo grows in patches. This bamboo was once green and made the campus seem alive with the aura of springtime. However, as the seasons are changing the bamboo is beginning to turn yellow. These patches add a golden yellow to campus while the leaves, still green, contrast the seemingly dead stalks.

In other places, there are trees of all types. Many trees are speckled with colorful flowers. Other trees have green, leafy vines growing up the sides. Many trees have interesting trunks. These trunks look like five or six trees accidentally wrapped themselves around each other and grew together to form a single trunk over many years. They also have vines hanging down from the branches slightly between the leaves. They have an ancient look to them much like the way that “wise, old trees” are drawn in cartoons and video games.

On the side paths, all types of vegetation grows in unruly forms and hangs over the narrow cement stairs. Amongst the many green leaves and small plants there are brilliant red, pink and lavender flowers to complement all of the leaves, and give the air a light aroma of the flowers themselves. These side paths almost always lead to stairways that never seem to end.

The paths I walk along often take me to Central Campus, which is quite unique. The central part is between all the light-colored buildings and is rectangular. It consists almost entirely of cement blocks. Lining the edge of this rectangle are smaller rectangles of bricks. Within these rectangles are trees that were planted in rows to border the central area.

On one end, there is a huge sculpture right before the library. The sculpture is looks like rocks, and forms an arch shape. It is believed that anyone who walks underneath the arch will never graduate from this university. On the right of this sculpture is a water fountain. It looks like a miniature pool with several streams of water shooting up from the bottom. To the left of this sculpture and off to the side is an area of neatly trimmed hedges growing exactly within the area allotted to them. From above, the bushes form a pattern of a rectangle folding within itself.

On the other end of central campus is a science building. It extends across the entire the area from one building to the next, forming a bridge shape. There are two spiral staircases that lead up to the main part of the building. There is a large emblem of the Chinese University of Hong Kong attached to the center of the bridge part of the building.

Although the campus here is very different from the vast expanse of manicured grass that Iowa State is made of, it is just as beautiful.

Ariel Ringlein is a junior in management from Guthrie Center. She is in Hong Kong for the semester as part of the ISU study abroad program.