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with funds representing about equal proportions of Chinese and British money.
At the end of the year the number of students was 186, 84 of whom were taking the Engineering Course, 65 Medicine, and 37 Arts. While most of the students have studied in Hongkong schools, a number come from Canton, the Coast Ports of China, and the Straits Settlements.
The idea of the University is to provide, close to China, education for Chinese similar to that given in the British Universities, but at a much cheaper cost; for if a Chinese goes abroad to be educated he has to pay, besides travelling expenses, some $2,000 per annum; whereas at Hongkong the expenses of the University are $540 per annum for board and tuition, or, including extras, from $600 to $650.
The founders of the University took into consideration the fact that Chinese students being educated abroad have usually to make their own arrangements for board and lodging. Consequently sometimes they contract irregular habits. All students educated at the Hongkong University are required to become boarders, and thus their whole lives are under supervision whilst they are there. Ample provision is made for indoor and outdoor recreation, and in this connection it is interesting to note that the Chinese residents of Hongkong recently subscribed a large sum for levelling a new playing field and that the work has just been completed.
The University is composed of three Faculties: 1.—Medical, which offers ample facilities for the practice of medicine. The anatomical laboratories were the gift of a Cantonese gentleman (Mr. Ng Li-hing). There is a large staff of instructors in medicine and all the principal medical practitioners in Hongkong give lectures at the University. 2.—Arts. The establishment of this Faculty was largely due to the munificence of a Chinese gentleman in the Straits Settlements (Mr. Cheung Pat-sze). Its special object is to provide training suitable to those who desire to enter the public service or the higher branches of mercantile life. The course of instruction comprises English and Chinese literature, political and constitutional history, political economy, jurisprudence, and international and commercial law. 3.—Engineering. Nearly one-half of the students belong to this Faculty. It is divided into three branches—Civil, Electrical, and Mechanical. The University has an exceptionally large equipment of machinery and apparatus, and has fourteen laboratories and workshops. There is practically no place in China where students have such an opportunity of seeing all kinds of machinery in actual working and of learning their practical management.
The University insists upon all students having a proper knowledge of their own language although instruction at the University is carried out in English. Students are required to pass an examination in written Chinese before entering, and two Chinese Professors, both Hanlin graduates, give lectures on the classics and history of China.