Hong Kong Cultural Tours Project Concluded Successfully – CUHK students docents facilitated 2,000 students to learnt about the community

CUHK student docents have undergone four professional training sessions led by experienced mentors from diverse community and cultural backgrounds. They gained valuable insights into route design and development, content research, storytelling techniques, and communication skills tailored to engage secondary school students from diverse backgrounds.

The Hong Kong Cultural Tours Project was kicked off in November last year.  CUHK students underwent professional docent training, including route design and communication skills. CUHK Student docents then led friends from secondary schools across Hong Kong to join us on our four captivating routes, exploring Central, Sai Ying Pun, To Kwa Wan, and Tsuen Wan. Participants immersed themselves in the unique characteristics of old Hong Kong, wandering through the neighbourhoods to uncover the rich history and living conditions of the past, while visualising the transformation to today's vibrant cityscape. Each route is managed by CUHK students, who are responsible for data collection, writing the presentation scripts, and preparing for the tours. The themes are listed below:

[Central] Breaking new ground – Withholding time: Heritage conservation

[Sai Ying Pun] Centennial ages – Endlessly thriving: Artisan craftsmanship

[To Kwa Wan] Transformation is eternal – the old workshop

[Tsuen Wan] See the macro through micro – Miniature Hong Kong: Satellite city

A total of 72 Hong Kong Cultural Tours were conducted by 19 CUHK students from March to June 2025, serving 61 secondary schools and engaging 1,836 secondary school students. We also carried out 3 CUHK exclusive student tours, one of which invited ten students from CUHK (Shenzhen) to discover the local community. Here are some thoughts and reflections from the participating students:

What impressed me the most was Fuk Loi Estate. When I stood in the courtyard, I saw old, unrestored buildings on one side and renovated ones on the other, due to incomplete urban planning. It felt like a meeting across time, witnessing the end of an era and the changes of the times.

— Wong, Po Leung Kuk Ma Kam Ming College

I thought I was used to the city’s changes, but within just two weeks, I saw the green old window frames above Lam Kee Paper Shop being removed and painted over; the surrounding green fences seemed to witness the past being covered up. The tour gave us a chance to look around and remember the old scenery, so those memories could stay with us forever.

— Sun, CUHK Student Docent

Since its launch in 2014-15, around 300 CUHK students became docents to lead over 9,500 secondary school students to learnt about the community in the Hong Kong Cultural Tour Project. We are grateful for all of the support of our donors, CUHK students, and school partners to make this Lean Poverty Alleviation Initiative possible in the past 10 years.

CUHK students joined the tour in Central.

Students from St. Paul’s College joined the cultural tour in Sai Ying Pun.

Students from CUHK and CUHK(Shenzhen) joined the cultural tour in To Kwa Wan.

＜ Students' Stories