A life-changing year at CUHK
How brief encounters forged lifelong bonds
9 September 2025
During the 1995-96 academic year, CUHK welcomed 157 exchange students for either a term or a full year of study. Many students came from our exchange partners, while others joined a junior-year abroad programme through the Yale-China Association in New Haven, US. In the 1990s, around 85% of students came from the US and Japan.
For many of those 157 students, what began as relatively brief encounters among strangers in a foreign land wove itself into a tapestry of friendships lasting 30 years—and counting.
On 20 June, some 30 members of this group—now scattered around the globe—returned to CUHK with their families to rekindle friendships and memories of that life-changing year.
Above (right): 30-plus members of that group reassemble on the stairs of Yasumoto International Academic Park, a relatively new campus landmark, during a reunion in June
Prologue: an ill wind that blows good
It all began with a typhoon.
Caroline Quan, who arrived from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as an exchange student in Psychology in August 1995, recalls how, Typhoon Kent lashed Hong Kong on what should have been their second day of orientation. With the No. 8 signal hoisted, all the newly arrived exchange students found themselves stuck in dormitories. The impromptu typhoon party that followed quickly produced gales of laughter while the wind howled outside.
“We couldn’t leave and were stuck together, with nothing else to do for those 48 hours. So, we got to know each other very well. Perhaps that’s why we formed such a deep connection,” Caroline says.
Above (right): Caroline and Patrick, now married for 24 years, at last month's reunion
As a second-generation Hongkonger growing up in the United States, young Caroline felt little connection to her mother’s homeland. Her mother, however, was determined that her daughter should cultivate a deeper understanding of Chinese culture—and, if fate allowed, perhaps even meet a boyfriend in Hong Kong. To her mother’s delight and surprise, Caroline did meet a fellow US exchange student and future husband, Patrick Long.
Friendship and romance
Caroline enjoyed CUHK campus life—joining movie nights at Sir Run Run Shaw Hall, singing in the school choir, attending ballroom dancing and joining study tours. Patrick, then an Asian studies major at Georgetown University, had come to Hong Kong to master the Chinese language. After meeting Caroline on campus, he soon found himself gravitating to every possible event to be near her. These shared experiences blossomed into romance and, ultimately, marriage.
That year’s exchange programme also formed a lifelong friendship between Takahide (Taka) Nakagawa, a Waseda University student, and Corey Wong, who was raised in California and roomed with him. A shared love of travelling has since taken them together across Argentina, Australia, Iceland and Southeast Asia.
Hong Kong’s “pull”
Corey’s fascination with aircraft and railways began in childhood, and at 15 years old, on his first visit, he was captivated by Hong Kong’s urban vitality. Eager to feel the pulse of the city again, he leapt at the chance to return as an exchange student while an undergraduate of engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. Later, after many years working in Shanghai, Japan and the US, Corey chose to make Hong Kong his home.
Above (right): Taka (left) visits Dr Wong – and the very lion head they danced with – upon returning to CUHK
Taka’s childhood love of Hong Kong was shaped mainly by films featuring Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee and Michael Hui Koon-man. As a young man studying in Japan and the US, he joined CUHK’s exchange programme at his own expense. There, picked up Cantonese, joined the lion dance class, and met his future wife, a local Chinese language major student at CUHK.
After living in Japan for some years, the family decided to return to Hong Kong as they believed that their daughter would benefit from its rich linguistic and cosmopolitan outlook. Today, their daughter is proficient in six languages including, Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean and more—a source of pride for her father.
Above (right): Taka, Corey and Caroline (first, third and forth from left) enjoy a meal with fellow exchange students and a CUHK teacher (back row)
A different era
Although three decades have passed, the group’s collective memories remain vivid.
It was the era before mobile phones. “There was just one shared telephone in the dormitory corridor,” Corey says with a chuckle. “Whenever it rang, someone would shout, ‘Room 510, come up. You have a call.’ If you wanted to make a call, you queued up, and if you happened to be talking to your girlfriend, there were always about six other people right next to you waiting—and eavesdropping!”
“Back then, dormitories were not air-conditioned, so we often gathered in the computer room, which was kept cool,” Patrick says. The computer room was where Caroline registered her very first email account—an experience she remembers vividly.
Corey notes that accessibility on campus is now much improved. “There are elevators and escalators everywhere. So, I think CUHK students today don’t have as hard of a time as we did, walking up the hill!”
Still carrying the torch
A single year as exchange students at CUHK reshaped several lives. Both Taka with his family and Corey have made Hong Kong their home. Returning to the US and marrying, Patrick and Caroline encouraged their daughters to embrace multiple languages and cultures, and seek experiences abroad—true to the spirit of CUHK and its commitment to cross-cultural understanding.
Above (right): Caroline (second from right) and former Chung Chi College friends donned college attire for a commemorative photo
A new version of themselves
Reflecting on that transformative year, Caroline remains grateful to CUHK teachers for organising gatherings to help exchange students get to know one another and for offering warmth and care to those far from home.
Patrick urges future exchange students to go beyond basic tourist stuff while in Hong Kong, “Immerse yourself in local life, learn the language and embrace Hong Kong culture. It’s normal for international students to feel homesick—that’s part of the experience. But you have to go through it. You’ll discover a new version of yourself. That, truly, is the greatest reward.”
By Jessica Chu
Photos by Steven Yan and courtesy of interviewees
