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General Information

Transportation

• Directions to CUHK and Hotels
• Directions from Hotels to CUHK

Visa

Visitors to Hong Kong must hold a valid passport. Passports should be valid for at least six months after your planned departure date from Hong Kong. Nationals of most countries are not required to obtain visas for periods varying from seven days to 180 days, depending on nationality. Please refer to Hong Kong SAR Immigration Department Home Page for visa requirements for the foreign countries/territories (please scroll down to Item. 12).

Persons who need a visa or entry permit for visit should obtain the appropriate visa or entry permit before travelling to the HKSAR. You may apply for the appropriate visa or entry permit from the nearest Chinese diplomatic and consular mission.

The City

Hong Kong, known as the Pearl of the Orient, is one of the most exciting and beautiful cosmopolitan cities in the world. It is situated on the southern coast of China and is geographically the center of East Asia. Occupying an area of slightly over 1,000 sq. km, it has a population of around 7 million people. There are 9 universities and colleges in the territory, of which 6 offer programs in physics and/or applied physics at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. For more information about Hong Kong, please refer to Hong Kong Tourism Board Home Page.

Weather

The season in December is between autumn and winter. Weather is cool with low humidity. Temperatures range from 14^oC to 26^oC, humidity about 72%. Occasional chills make woollens and overcoats worth bringing. Please refer to Hong Kong Observatory Home Page for 7-day weather forecast.

Currencies and exchange

The local currency is the Hong Kong dollar. The Hong Kong dollar is pegged to the US dollar at a rate of approximately US$1 to HK$7.8. Banks generally offer better exchange rates, most banks levy a HKD50 commission for each transaction on non-account holders.

Major credit cards can be used in most mid to top-range hotels and department stores, but cannot be used to pay for local transportation. Canteens and restaurants in CUHK campus accept cash in HKD only.

The CUHK

The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) (香港中文大學) sits on a hill in the northeast part of the New Territories, occupying an area of over 130 hectares and commanding a scenic view of Tolo Harbor. It has a Kowloon-Canton Railway (KCR) (九廣鐵路列車) station so that it makes the traffic to the nearby Shatin (沙田) and the downtown very convenient. Since its inception, it has adopted bilingualism and biculturalism as the basis of its teaching, emphasizing both Chinese and English languages and Eastern and Western cultures. It is a comprehensive university of 8 faculties, with a staff body of over 2 thousands and a student population of around 18 thousands, of which about 47% are graduate students. To know more about the culture of this University, simply click on the link and take the "CU Culture Trail" guided tour.

Venue

Science Centre, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong

Poster Presentations

Authors are reminded to put the materials on the poster boards before 1:45 p.m. on December 7. Each poster board is of an area of 87cm ´ 120cm, enough for 16 sheets of paper of the A4 size.

Department Facilities

The general office of the Physics Department is in Room 107, Science Centre North Block. Please refer to the campus map for its location. Facilities for photocopying or transparency making are available for use at nominal charges.

E-mail room is in Room 216, Science Centre North Block. Please be advised that not to exceed 15 minutes for each use.

Reading room is in Room 126, Science Centre North Block provides space for a short rest, discussions or reading magazines/newspapers.

Campus Facilities

Bank, supermarket, book store, barber shop and souvenir counter are located in John Fulton Centre (富爾敦樓). Please refer to the campus map.

Canteens and Restaurants

There are over 10 eating places on campus. The two nearest ones are the canteen in the Choh-Ming Li Basic Medical Sciences Building (李卓敏基本醫學大樓) and the restaurant complex in Benjamin Franklin Centre (范克廉樓). Please refer to the campus map for their locations.

Local Transportation

It is convenient and efficient to go downtown by Kowloon-Canton Railway (KCR) (九廣鐵路列車) (train) and Mass Transit Railway (MTR) (地下鐵路列車) (subway).
Science Centre/Yali Guest House KCR University Station
1.	On foot (~18 minutes) or by School Shuttle Bus (free of charge from September to May and HK$1 from June to August; HK$5 on Sunday and public holidays). For bus stops please refer to the campus map. [School shuttle bus schedule]
2.	In addition, the University Guest House System provides in-campus transportation (operating hours: 08:00 - 22:45) exclusively for house-guests upon request (tel. 26036411).