Lady Ho Tung Hall: HKU’s Only All-Women’s Residential Hall

Lady Ho Tung Hall (LHTH) was founded in 1951 and is the most historically significant all-women’s residential unit in the history of The University of Hong Kong, remaining to this day the only all-women’s residential hall at HKU. This article belongs to the 00–12 Reference Zone (factual); it records established information as it appears in sources and does not display a reliability badge.

# 1. At a Glance

# 2. Founding: In Memory of Lady Margaret Ho Tung

According to the hall’s official history^※, after the Second World War, Sir Robert Hotung donated HK$1 million to HKU specifically for the construction of a women’s residence, in memory of his late wife, Lady Margaret Ho Tung. Lady Ho Tung Hall officially opened in 1951.

At the time, the gift was widely regarded as a significant step towards equality in women’s higher education — in post-war Hong Kong, women still accounted for a minority of HKU’s student body, and a dedicated women’s hall offered female students a more secure and supportive residential and living environment.

Placed in a longer historical perspective, the founding of Lady Ho Tung Hall forms a clear thread in the story of women’s higher education at HKU. In its early years, HKU did not admit women^※; it was not until 1921 — a full decade after the University’s founding — that the first female students were enrolled. These early entrants included girls from St. Stephen’s Girls’ College, who read medicine, education, and engineering. Over the following three decades, although women could attend the University, there was a persistent lack of dedicated residential accommodation; female students often had to rent privately or lodge with off-campus institutions. The establishment of Lady Ho Tung Hall in 1951 can therefore be seen as an institutional repair of a three-decade-long gap — women could study, but had nowhere proper to live. It marked the first time HKU, through an official establishment, acknowledged that female students required a system of residential and living support with the same level of security afforded to male students.

# A Note on Sir Robert Hotung

Sir Robert Hotung (1862–1956) was one of early Hong Kong’s most influential businessmen and philanthropists. Noted for his mixed Chinese and European heritage, he spent his life acting as a bridge between Chinese and Western cultures. Lady Ho Tung Hall, which he funded, stands as one of his single most important contributions to HKU. According to Wikipedia^※, Hotung wielded extensive influence in both Hong Kong’s political and commercial circles.

# 3. Early Operations (1951–1998)

When the hall opened in 1951, 85 women moved in — out of a total of 206 female students across the University^※; within a few years the number of places expanded to 104.

In its early days, the hall employed attendants who provided residents with three meals a day and laundry services, making for a relatively comfortable lifestyle — students described themselves as being “meticulously looked after,” reflecting the thorough provision made for female students’ daily lives at the time.

# 4. 1998 Redevelopment and the Move to Jockey Club Student Village

In 1998, Lady Ho Tung Hall underwent a major redevelopment and rebuilding programme^※. The new building provided roughly 404 residential places, making it the second-largest residential hall at HKU.

In 2001, with the completion of Jockey Club Student Village I (91 Pokfulam Road)^※, Lady Ho Tung Hall relocated to its present address.

# 5. Hall Ethos: Sisterhood, Sport, and Leadership Development

Lady Ho Tung Hall’s ethos rests on three pillars: sisterhood, sports participation, and leadership development.

• The hall fields 11 sports teams, 4 cultural teams, and 3 interest groups^※; its level of sports participation ranks among the highest of all HKU halls.
• The Hall Committee is student-run, with a strong emphasis on developing organisational and leadership skills.
• Successive generations of residents call one another “Sisters,” and the hall possesses a strong sense of community and cohesion.

Lady Ho Tung Hall and Ricci Hall — the men’s residential hall — are jointly among the oldest traditional halls at HKU. A landmark annual tradition that has grown up between the two is the still-continuing Gong Fight: each year, Ricci residents and Ho Tung residents face off in a contest of gong-banging and shouting. The longevity of this tradition, and the closeness of the two halls’ relationship, make it one of the few representative examples of a “cross-gender hall interaction tradition” in HKU’s residential culture.

# 6. Lady Ho Tung Hall on Screen: City of Glass and the Memory of Redevelopment

In 1998, the original Lady Ho Tung Hall building was being demolished for redevelopment (see above), just as director Mabel Cheung and screenwriter Alex Law were preparing their film City of Glass. According to the HKU Alumni Affairs Office^※, Cheung herself had been a resident of Lady Ho Tung Hall, and the demolition-redevelopment of the old building triggered her creative impulse. Set against the backdrop of the 1997 handover of Hong Kong, the film tells the story of a pair of protagonists — graduates of Ricci Hall and Lady Ho Tung Hall respectively — whose lives and a car crash on a London bridge unravel a love story spanning two generations. The cast included Leon Lai, Shu Qi, and Daniel Wu.

The same source^※ notes that during filming, the production team invited actual hall residents to take part as extras. This meant the film was not only a commercial production but also, inadvertently, an “irreplaceable visual record” of the old Lady Ho Tung Hall just before its demolition. The film’s Gong Fight scene subsequently continued to be staged on the open space in front of the rebuilt hall, becoming a cultural symbol linking memories of the old building to the new hall’s traditions. City of Glass went on to receive multiple nominations at both the Golden Horse Awards and the Hong Kong Film Awards. For Lady Ho Tung Hall’s 65th anniversary, the hall drew on this connection as inspiration and staged a drama production titled City of Glass (琉璃之城)^※ as a tribute to this shared history on both screen and in the hall.

# 7. Administration

Lady Ho Tung Hall’s accommodation applications are co-ordinated centrally by HKU’s CEDARS (Centre of Development and Resources for Students); it is a university-run, non-collegiate hall.