So we’re back with more urban legends for ya. Feel free to share these spine-chilling ghost stories about Hong Kong universities around the campfire – freshmen, cover your ears!
Whether or not you believe in traditional deities and Chinese superstitions, we think it’s better to beware when you’re wandering around the university campuses in the 852. Because with all these urban legends in Hong Kong, you should probably watch your back! We know that all the Hong Kong university graduates will be checking our list to see if their uni ghost stories made the cut – although it may be better that they haven’t.
The most infamous urban legends and ghost stories from Hong Kong universities
1. The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK): The Tale of the Oxtail Soup
Traditional Cantonese soups are hearty, delicious, and a great remedy for late nights. But the infamous ghost story about a certain oxtail soup at the Chinese University may make you take a good look at your bowl of soup next time you have one…
The creepy tale of the oxtail soup goes a little something like this: Once upon a time, there was a male student who lived on the first floor of a certain dormitory building at CUHK’s New Asia College, while his girlfriend lived on the floor above. To express her care for her boyfriend who was studying hard everyday, the girl would hang a bowl of oxtail soup down from her window to her boyfriend. However, the two had an argument and since then, the boy rejected the soup. Feeling distraught, the girl eventually stopped sending soup to her lover. Yet one evening, the boy saw the familiar bowl of oxtail soup again, dangling outside his window. Curious, the boy reached out to receive it. Alas, when he looked into the bowl, there was no soup – instead, it held the head of his now ex-lover. Apparently, the heartbroken girl committed suicide in her dorm room when her boyfriend refused her. Would you dare to spend a night in either of these rooms? We certainly wouldn’t!
New Asia College, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sha Tin, Hong Kong
2. City University of Hong Kong (CityU): Myth of the 3M Toilets
Did you think the city centre would be less creepy than the countryside of CUHK? Think again. This ghost story is set in CityU’s 3M toilets in the Yellow Zone. There are several versions of the myth, but they revolve around the theme that some kind of ghostly entity used to haunt the ladies’ bathroom. One version claims that the ghost is that of a female student who committed suicide in the bathroom; another alleges that the spirit is that of a male worker who tragically passed away in an accident during the building’s construction. The latter could be seen laying bricks using his bloody hands. It is said that this ladies’ bathroom was therefore transformed into a men’s bathroom to increase the yang qi (a spiritual force in traditional Chinese beliefs) of the site and deter malevolent entities. Is this a creative way to explain the fact that there are no bidets in CityU’s 3M male toilets? Perhaps.
Wanna take a toilet break from these creepy ghost stories? Drop by these best toilets in Hong Kong – yep, we’ve written about them!
City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong
3. The Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST): Red Eyes
Also known as the story of Red Black Red in HKU, this HKUST ghost story is about a peephole that was wrongly installed on the door of a certain dormitory. Nobody realised this door viewer worked the other way around (i.e. someone could peek into the room from outside and not from the inside), apart from a guy who used it to his advantage. He would spy on his crush who resided in this dorm room, until one day, all he could see through the peephole was… Red. But red what? He thought the girl simply hung a piece of red cloth over the peephole. Yet when he finally opened the door, he realised those were the red, bloodshot eyes of the girl who hung herself to death in the room, all the while staring straight at the peephole. Eek!
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong
4. The University of Hong Kong (HKU): Don’t Stay in the Morgue
Some online sources claim this ghost story to be based on a real incident in the news, but we haven’t been able to find related archives, so it’s up to you to believe it (or not). Back in the 80s, some seniors locked a freshman into the morgue of the Faculty of Medicine at HKU overnight as a prank. While nobody knew what exactly happened to the poor freshman while he was in the morgue, the seniors were horrified when they unlocked the morgue the next day. They saw the freshman covered with wounds and bite marks; more terrifyingly, he was eating the corpses! As a result, an account detailing the incident was released in the school magazine the following year. Allegedly, there was even a new rule in the students’ handbook prohibiting pupils from locking other people up in the morgue.
As one of the oldest universities in Hong Kong, HKU has plenty of other urban legends and ghost stories, such as that of the headless corpse at Knowles Building, and the ‘pig skin ghost’ (豬皮鬼). Tell us if you’d like us to share more!
Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong (HKUMed), 21 Sassoon Road, Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong
5. The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK): The Braided Girl
Did you find the first story spine-chilling? Brace yourself, for this other ghost story from the CUHK is even more terrifying (and – just a warning – a little gory, too). Set in the 60s, this tale involved a young lady with a long braid. Attempting to smuggle herself across the border from Mainland China, the girl hopped onto the train without a ticket. When the train operator came through to check tickets, the girl tried to flee by jumping off the train. Unfortunately, her long braid got stuck between the tracks, tearing away her scalp and her face… This happened at the train station near CUHK. Since then, passers-by have reported seeing a braided girl weeping with her back to them; when she turned around, they saw something horrifying – and we’d leave that to your imagination.
This ghost story was so prominent that the path where the tragedy allegedly happened is now known as Braid Road (辮子路 or 一條辮路). Good luck walking that path alone at night, because you certainly won’t see us there!
Braid Road, path between Shaw College, teachers’ dormitory, and Chung Chi College, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sha Tin, Hong Kong
6. The University of Hong Kong (HKU): Don’t Go Near the Lotus Pond at Night
Here’s another Hong Kong urban legend from HKU’s plethora of ghost stories. Legend has it that a female student fell in love with a male professor. Not only was this relationship doomed from the beginning since he was a teacher, but he was also married at the time. Yet, the student’s feelings were reciprocated, and the couple decided to run away together. They’d decided to meet up at the lily pond (officially the Mong Kwok Ping Garden) near the main building at midnight. However, the professor never showed up. Saddened by the betrayal, the student committed suicide by jumping into the lily pond.
To this day, students hanging around the lily pond at night have reported encountering a female ghost who relentlessly asks them for the time. Allegedly, if you answer the ghost, she’ll drag you into the lily pond with her! Best to keep the time to yourself, it seems.
Mong Kwok Ping Garden, The University of Hong Kong, 94 Bonham Road, Lung Fu Shan, Hong Kong
7. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU): The Child by the Pool
This Hong Kong urban legend from PolyU is a sad one. One side of the student canteen is decorated with floor-to-ceiling windows, offering ample natural light for those enjoying a meal. One used to be able to see through to the Michael Clinton Swimming Pool on the other side, but all the windows are now covered with reflective stickers.
Legend has it that one summer night, a child (likely a professor’s son) only a few years old had drowned in the swimming pool. At the time, the windows in the canteen had yet to be covered with stickers. Since the kid’s passing, students dining at night have reported seeing a child climbing up from the swimming pool, waddling towards the canteen, before disappearing by the window. Eventually, no one dared to sit near the windows and the canteen has seen significantly less business. Thankfully, the university decided to cover up the windows, so students will frequent the canteen again.
VA Student Canteen, G/F, Shaw Amenities Building, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 11 Yuk Choi Road, Hung Hom, Hong Kong
[This article was originally published in August 2021 and updated in 2024 by Celia Lee.]
