Landmarks and Campus Lore

Note: This page distinguishes verified material (source cited) from campus word-of-mouth (marked 【unverified】). The former is supported by media or official documentation; the latter is passed by word of mouth only, and its accuracy has not been confirmed. This page focuses on the origins and factual record of the landmarks themselves; how the "Red Bird" symbol entered the official 2023 school anthem is covered in the companion piece The Red Bird Symbol and the Anthem Story^※; the feng shui siting and the "lift number as address" navigation puzzle are covered in a separate piece, Feng Shui Ridge, the One-World-Fountain, and the "Lift as Address" Puzzle^※; the student-discipline and speech controversy around the Frog Road slogan, arising around 2021, is covered in Academic Freedom, Student-Union Discipline, and Speech Controversies^※.

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# 1. The Red Bird Sundial ("Fire Turkey"): the Official Name and the Mystery of the Nickname

# Official identity

The red steel sculpture at the centre of the Entrance Piazza has the official name "Circle of Time", HKUST's most recognisable landmark and one of the school's brand emblems.

• Creators: According to HKUST's Communications and Public Affairs Office page, the sculptors were Charles and Joan Walsh-Smith^※ — an Irish-descended couple based in Perth, Western Australia.
• Commissioning body: According to the same official page^※, the work was commissioned by the Hong Kong Jockey Club and donated to HKUST.
• Installation date: According to the official record, it was installed on 8 October 1991^※, the same year HKUST formally opened.
• Dimensions: According to the official source, the sundial itself stands roughly 8.5 metres^※ tall; the base relief is 7.0 metres long and 1.5 metres high^※.
• Material: Steel, set at the centre of a stepped circular base, with water flowing on all four sides.

# Design intent

The sculptors conceived a "contemplative Circle of Time," meant to offer a spiritual oasis within a busy campus. The flowing water is said to represent "the passing of time," and the terraced cascade "the flow of history." According to the official page^※, the base relief depicts 39 Chinese scientific and technological achievements^※ spanning the 4th century BCE to the 13th century CE^※, including the compass, man-carrying kites, lacquerware, and equatorial and astronomical instruments. The sculpture also functions as a working sundial — though according to the brand materials, reading the time requires a sunny day and a vantage point looking down through an office window in a surrounding building, a design that is both elaborate and mildly ironic.

# The folk origin of the "Fire Turkey" nickname

On the official branding and nickname front, according to the HKUST brand guidelines^※, the sculpture's official nickname is the "Red Bird Sundial"; students, however, more commonly refer to it in spoken Cantonese as "Fire Turkey." According to a student-compiled campus-locations page, HKUST FYS^※, the "Fire Turkey" nickname is in general circulation within the student community. A common conjecture holds that the sharp metal elements at the top of the sculpture, combined with its overall form, evoke the appearance of a turkey — but official documentation offers no explanation for the nickname's origin; this remains speculation.

# The no-climbing rule

Official materials state plainly: visitors may stand on the base steps for photographs, but climbing the sculpture itself is against the rules, even though it is said to be a "standard attempt" among generations of students and alumni.

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# 2. The Site's Earlier Life: From a Gurkha Army Camp to a University of Science and Technology

The siting of HKUST's Clear Water Bay campus carries a little-known military history.

# Kohima Camp: an unbuilt British military post

According to the English Wikipedia entry "Kohima Camp," between 1980 and 1981^※ the British side conducted a review of Hong Kong's defence needs and planned to build barracks at Tai Po Tsai (the site of today's HKUST campus) to house an additional British infantry battalion^※ (the source states only "an additional British infantry battalion," without naming the specific regiment). The camp was to be named Kohima Camp, which according to the same source^※ commemorated the 1944^※ Battle of Kohima, at which the Japanese advance was repelled.

According to English Wikipedia^※, following the signing of the Sino-British Joint Declaration in 1984^※, the reinforcement and camp-building plans were cancelled; the site became the location of the newly established Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 1986^※.

# The Scout Jamboree: an interlude before construction

According to the English Wikipedia entry "Tai Po Tsai," from 27 December 1986 to 1 January 1987^※ the not-yet-developed HKUST site was used temporarily to host the Hong Kong Scouts' Diamond Jubilee Jamboree (marking the 75th anniversary^※ of Hong Kong Scouting), the site's one large public event before it was handed over for university construction. (Note: the English Wikipedia "Kohima Camp" entry mis-states the end date as "1 January 1997"; the 1987 date given in the "Tai Po Tsai" entry should be taken as correct.)

# Foundation ceremony and Prince Charles

According to public records, on 8 November 1989^※, the then Prince of Wales (now King Charles III) presided over HKUST's foundation-stone ceremony, held on the former site of Kohima Camp at Tai Po Tsai.

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# 3. The Terraced Campus: the 1987 Architecture Competition and the Origin of "Built Into the Hillside"

HKUST's terraced, hillside-facing-sea layout was not incidental — it originated in a formal architectural design competition held before the university was built. This also explains why campus circulation is complex enough to require "lift numbers" as addresses (see the companion piece Feng Shui Ridge, the One-World-Fountain, and the "Lift as Address" Puzzle^※ for details).

# The competition and the winning design

According to the English Wikipedia entry "Hong Kong University of Science and Technology," in 1987^※ the Construction and Engineering Sub-Committee of the university's planning committee launched an architectural competition for the Tai Po Tsai site. In the end, today's campus layout and buildings^※ were not built to the competition's first-prize design, but to the runner-up design — a master plan jointly submitted by Simon Kwan & Associates and the UK firm Percy Thomas Partnership. The English Wikipedia entry does not detail why the runner-up design was ultimately adopted; this is left unresolved pending further sourcing.

# Why "built into the hillside"

The HKUST site itself sits on sloped terrain. According to the same source^※, the design team responded to the topography by placing buildings and facilities on a series of terraces cut into the hillside — teaching facilities occupy the highest terraces, while undergraduate residences and sports facilities are placed on the lower terraces closer to the sea. According to the same source, the terraces are linked by roadways, footbridges, and a network of lifts, formally known on campus as the "Bridge Link."

This planning choice also echoes the military-land history described in Section 2 of this page: Kohima Camp had originally been intended to house infantry barracks that, by their nature, required siting on hillside terrain for defensive purposes. HKUST's later use of the site continued this same logic of "building in tiers along the slope," only with the function shifted from military defence to academic zoning.

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# 4. The "Frog Road" Slogan: Seven Years of Resistant Graffiti

A campus path known to students as "Frog Road" once bore ground-level graffiti that, according to a news report, remained in place for approximately seven years^※.

# Origin (2014)

According to Dimsum Daily, the slogan was first spray-painted in white on the Frog Road surface during the 2014^※ Umbrella Movement. Its text read:

「希望在于人民，改变始于抗争」("Hope lies in the people; change begins with resistance") (Dimsum Daily)^※

The lettering covered a stretch of the path.

# Persistence and removal

• The slogan remained visible on campus for several years afterward.
• Around 2020, a student organisation was subject to disciplinary action in connection with an incident related to events in 2019 (per this site's §6.2 rule, that 2019 matter is presented only as a linked source directory across 14 modules; this page does not name parties, restate, or speculate).
• According to Dimsum Daily, the slogan was ultimately removed on the afternoon of 4 September 2021, at around 2:30 pm^※; the university's stated reason was routine campus cleaning following the resumption of in-person classes (the report states in-person classes resumed on 1 September 2021^※).

Source: Dimsum Daily, "Anti-government phrase sprayed on HKUST campus road removed after 7 years." This page states the facts of this slogan's presence and removal between 2014 and 2021 solely on the basis of that news report, without further comment; the 2019-related matter is, per §6.2 of this site, presented as links only, without accompanying narrative.

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# 5. The One-World-Fountain

Beside the Entrance Piazza, near the base of the University Library, stands the One-World-Fountain, described in campus accounts as a commemorative water feature dating from around HKUST's 10th anniversary (2001)^※. According to HKUST's official "Campus Highlights" page^※, the fountain sits outside the LG7 canteen^※; the official description and campus accounts agree on this point: the fountain is composed of stones drawn from the five continents, with the Asian stone at the centre and water linking it to the other four, symbolising harmony and global communication — this design intent is described consistently across both the official and unofficial sources.

• Creator: According to the relevant account^※, the Austrian sculptor Hans Muhr, whose work also appears in Vienna, Berlin, and Budapest.
• Donor: According to the same account, the fountain was donated by university council member Mr. Helmut Sohmen.
• Design intent: According to that account, five^※ stones were each drawn from one of the five continents, with the Asian stone at the centre linked by flowing water to the other four, symbolising "harmony between humanity and nature, and the resonance of technology with global communication."

Credibility note: The detail in this section on the One-World-Fountain relies mainly on a personal website account (a weaker source); specifics such as the anniversary year and the donor's identity are not directly corroborated by an official page; this is noted here pending further sourcing.

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# 6. The Disappearance and Rebirth of the Acacia Grove

According to HKUST's Sustainability Office, a dense grove of Acacia confusa once stood opposite the Shaw Auditorium, a rare natural gathering space on campus.

According to the HKUST Sustainability Office page^※, around 2022^※, mature trees on the site were removed to make way for the Martin Ka Shing Lee Innovation Building. Key points from the official account:

• The university cut and dried the timber, turning it into tabletops, furniture, wall panelling, and commemorative plaques for reuse across campus; according to the page, this "fixed CO2 and cut greenhouse-gas emissions by roughly 75 tonnes^※."
• This practice of "using campus timber to reduce the embodied carbon of new construction" was recognised in the International Sustainable Campus Network's 2024^※ Best Practices Report, according to the 2024 ISCN Best Practices Report^※.
• Further details circulating in campus sustainability accounts, such as "the trees were roughly 35 years old" or "the foundation-stone plaque was made from old-growth timber," are mentioned here for completeness; specific figures should be taken from the original official account.

Source: HKUST Sustainability Office, "Innovation Building and the Acacia Tree Grove"; 2024 ISCN Best Practices Report (HKUST).

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# 7. The Armillary Sphere: a Ming-Dynasty Astronomical Instrument Reproduced on the Fong Shu Chuen Promenade

Beyond the Red Bird Sundial — a modern sculpture that "can tell time but not easily" — HKUST's campus also holds a genuine reproduction of an ancient astronomical instrument: the Armillary Sphere, sited unobtrusively and not widely known.

# Facts from the official record

According to HKUST official news^※, this reproduction Armillary Sphere is installed at the start of the Fong Shu Chuen Promenade, which connects undergraduate halls one and two. The specifics:

The official unveiling remarks are quoted directly: "This wonderful instrument would not have been produced and installed at HKUST without the vision and generosity of the Fong Shu Fook Tong Foundation and the Fong's Family Foundation."^※

# An echo of the Red Bird Sundial

This Armillary Sphere and the Red Bird Sundial at the Entrance Piazza (see Section 1 of this page) echo one another in design intent — both take "China's ancient scientific and technological achievements" as their theme: the sundial's base relief depicts 39 entries from the history of Chinese science and technology, while the Armillary Sphere is a touchable, physical reproduction of an astronomical instrument. According to the official news item, the university intended this to remind faculty and students of "China's long and outstanding scientific tradition."^※ Compared with the year-round foot traffic at the sundial's Entrance Piazza, the Armillary Sphere on the Fong Shu Chuen Promenade sits closer to the residential side of campus and is less well known — a low-key landmark that "only those familiar with the campus think to show their friends."

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# 8. A Founding Story: Founding President Chia-Wei Woo and "Building a University"

# Why he came back to Hong Kong

According to public records, Chia-Wei Woo (born 1937^※, 1937–2025^※) was born in Shanghai and moved to the United States in 1955^※, studying first at Georgetown College and then at Washington University in St. Louis, where he earned a PhD in physics under Eugene Feenberg. According to English Wikipedia^※, in 1983^※ (at age 45) he became president of San Francisco State University, becoming the first Chinese-American to lead a major American university. He subsequently became HKUST's founding president, 1991–2001^※, according to the same source^※.

By the time Hong Kong was searching for HKUST's first president, Woo was already a leading figure at an established American university. According to HKUST's memorial materials, his decision to return to Hong Kong is linked to two questions his wife (Yvonne) is said to have asked him — roughly: "Could HKUST find a better-suited founding president than you?" and "Will you regret missing this opportunity twenty years from now?" (HKUST Memorial page)^※; according to that account, he ultimately decided to give up his American post and return to Hong Kong to help found the university.

# "Creating, not replicating"

According to HKUST's memorial and institutional-history accounts, his guiding principle was "Creating, not replicating" (HKUST obituary)^※ — refusing to copy existing university models, and instead designing HKUST's own strategic direction, curriculum structure, and governance from scratch. This principle is widely cited as HKUST's "founding DNA."

# Opening three years ahead of schedule

According to HKUST's milestones, the university opened in 1991^※; several institutional-history accounts state this was roughly three years ahead of the original schedule. A substantial faculty was already in place in the first year, and the founding vision set interim targets on the order of thousands of students and hundreds of faculty (specific figures should be taken from the original official record).

# The "artificial hill"

According to a report on an HKUST School of Engineering conversation, Woo, reminiscing about the campus, described a hill near the campus's north entrance as artificially built at the time, to block outsiders' view of the planned British military camp (later redeveloped as the HKUST site) — in his words, "…the hill near campus's north entrance was artificially made back then to block outsiders' view of the planned British military camp…" (HKUST SENG conversation)^※. This hill remains part of the campus terrain today.

# In memoriam

According to public records, Chia-Wei Woo died in San Francisco in March 2025^※ at the age of 87^※. HKUST issued obituaries in both Hong Kong and Guangzhou (HKUST GZ); according to the sustainability account, the university also made a commemorative plaque from old-growth acacia timber in his memory as founding president.

Source: Woo Chia-wei | Wikipedia; HKUST, "Mourns the Passing of Founding President Prof. Chia-Wei WOO"; HKUST SENG News (May 2024 conversation report); HKUST Memorial.

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# Related Reading

• The Red Bird Symbol and the Anthem Story^※ — how the sundial sculpture's "Red Bird" nickname evolved into the central image of the official 2023 school anthem
• Feng Shui Ridge, the One-World-Fountain, and the "Lift as Address" Puzzle^※ — the feng shui literature behind the terraced siting, and the origins of the "lift as address" circulation system
• HKUST's "Firsts" and Landmark Achievements^※ — research and academic milestones from the same period as this page's founding story
• Ghost Stories, Legends, and Campus Folklore^※ — the other side of campus folklore: stories about dormitories and off-limits areas
• Academic Freedom, Student-Union Discipline, and Speech Controversies^※ — the further context of the disciplinary matter tied to the Frog Road slogan

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This page is an unofficial-history archive. Portions marked 【unverified】 are passed down by students orally, have not been independently verified, and are provided for reference only.