A brief history and style of architecture of Chung Chi College
In 1950s there was a flourish of private colleges in Hong Kong. This sudden boom of higher education was due to a high demand for post-secondary education and the migration of scholars and educators from mainland China after 1949. The most important ones were the New Asia College (1949), Chung Chi College (1951), and United College (1956). They later became the three founding colleges of the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1963.
Chung Chi College was founded by representatives of various Protestant churches in Hong Kong to fill the need for an institution of higher learning that would be both Chinese and Christian. When the college was just founded, it had to borrow or rent several premises on Hong Kong island for conducting classes. The founders of the College soon started to plan a permanent campus in the New Territories in the early 50s and Mr. Robert Fan (范文照) was appointed as the campus architect. It is indisputable that Mr. Robert Fan was one of the most important architects of Chung Chi College’s early campus and buildings.
When the founders of Chung Chi College began to consider a permanent campus in the New Territories, the first choice was a place called Kou Tu. In the second issue of the Chung Chi College Bulletin (the Bulletin) dated May 10, 1952, it was written that “a site at Kou Tu Shan at 11 and 1/2 miles with beautiful scenery and running brooks in front of the hills and facing the harbour beyond the railway and Tai Po Road.”
As early as in November 3, 1953, in the Minutes of the Building Committee, there is a description on the future campus: “Buildings to be of simple one-storey construction fitted into the slope among trees, with connecting paths, rather than of a striking institutional pattern” Mr. Robert Fan did not use the usual symmetrical axis method but spread the buildings individually or in clusters according to the contours of the land into three areas:
1) The administrative and academic buildings are located on the long hill slope and the assembly and dining hall are nearest to the station.
2) The residential quarters and dormitories are on the north side of the valley.
3) The athletic field is in the salt flats between the rice field and the railway.
One more noteworthy point is that communication within the campus should be like Lingnan (嶺南), namely by foot paths and steps.
Robert Fan clearly demonstrated that he handled space organisation, proportion, material, and color with ease. The buildings completed were functional, closely knit without any superfluity, however, not abandoning the pursuit of architectural excellence. The buildings used load-bearing walls and structural frames as the different circumstances required. This could be seen from the external views of the buildings. The most noted feature of Mr. Fan’s design was his use of the local Ngo Tau Shek (牛頭石) as the facade treatment of the buildings. Thus, the stone walls, the plastered walls, the brick walls, the concrete lattice window, and the glass formed a conglomerate of materials and colors.
Even under budgetary constraints, Robert Fan did not completely abandon his pursuit of the “Chinese style”. This was manifested in two ways: the Administration Building, the Dining and Multi-purpose Hall, and the teaching blocks all had pitched roofs; there were Chinese style grooves on the overhanging parts of the roofs of these buildings.
To find the cache, you have to walk around the Chung Chi campus (or otherwise) to gather the following numbers:
A = Number of University Station exits/entrances
B = Number of Chinese characters planted on the slope along the Lake Ad Excellentia, just below Chung Chi Tan
C = Number of tall palm trees outside Elisabeth Luce Moore Library
D = Number of Chung Chi College student hostels
EFGH = Groundbreaking year of the Lions Pavilion (The year is in Chinese and you might seek students around for the translation 
)
Check sum A+B+C+D+E+F+G+H = 53
Final coordinates:
N 22° 2(A).(Bx2)(C-2)(D/5)
E 114° 1(E+1).(F-5)(G-2)(H-6)
You can check your answers here.
Upper left: The main campus in the 1970s
Upper right: The first phase of buildings on the main campus in 1956
Lower left, right: Teaching block A
Reference: Gu, D. (2010). Architect Robert Fan Wenzhao and the design of Chung Chi campus: A case study of the mainland migrant architects working in Hong Kong, China in the 1950s. Frontiers of Architecture and Civil Engineering in China, 4(4), 456-464.
