The Faculty of Business at City University of Hong Kong (CityU) held a “Global Mall 2007” carnival, aimed at building a new platform for cultural exchange on campus. The carnival encouraged cross-cultural communication through an exhibition of food, drink, costumes, sports and performance.

The theme of the carnival was "Shopping around the world". The exhibition hall, decorated like a big shopping mall, was filled with booths showcasing

different cultures. Exchange students from Spain, France, Australia, Singapore, Austria, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden and Canada joined mainland and Hong Kong students to invite visitors into their worlds.

Each booth was named after the most popular shopping area of the students' home country or region. Visitors were provided with "Global Money" to buy food, drinks and souvenirs.

Speaking at the opening ceremony on 3 April for the one-day event, Professor Richard Ho Yan-ki, Vice President (Undergraduate Education), said CityU strived to create a learning ambience with diverse cultural backgrounds.

"Students can learn about different facets of the culture of Hong Kong and other countries through this activity and this will help broaden their international horizon and enrich their university education with cross-cultural exchange experience," Professor Ho said.

Professor (Chair) Matthew Lee Kwok-on, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Business, said exchange programmes enabled local students to acquire new knowledge and skills from exchange students, which will be beneficial to their future.

"Global Mall 2007" was supported by HSBC Diversity Grant. Mr William Chiu, Manager Corporate Responsibility Asia Pacific Region, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, said that the activity encouraged students to embrace diversity as a learning opportunity about themselves and about the world outside of their comfort zone. He also said that he was deeply impressed by the efforts and creativity demonstrated by the student organizers.

CityU's student exchange programmes underscored the University's efforts in developing a more internationalized learning environment and enhanced students' exposure to different cultures. In 2006-2007, close to 390 exchange students were recruited from 21 countries.