Fruitful Engagement with Mainland China just starting to reach fruition. At first, it was just individual scholars making the trip, such as Professor Chow who visited in 1977 at the invitation of the International Department of China Association for Science and Technology and again in 1981 with another future dean, Professor Leong, to demonstrate the ‘Hong Kong Operation’ for spinal deformity, a common health problem in China at that time. These initial contacts soon grew into more regular study exchanges, with external benefactors helping to HKUMed’s forebearer, the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, is nationally renowned for its first graduate – the father of modern China, Dr Sun Yat-sen. But for many years that connection with Mainland China could not be sustained as war and strife prevented substantive engagement. In the late 1970s, all that began to change. The Faculty began to reach out to the Mainland and vice versa, creating seeds of synergy and collaboration that are only FEATURE ↓Professor John Leong demonstrates ‘The Hong Kong Operation’ for TB spine and surgery for scoliosis in Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital (early 1980s) 梁智仁教授於廣東省 人民醫院進行手術示範 （1980 年代初期） (Photo courtesy of Professor John Leong 梁智仁教授供圖） ↓Dr Sun Yat-sen’s exam paper at the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese (The original copy is currently archived at the Wellcome Library in London) 孫中山先生於香港華人西醫書院之考試答題卷 （原件現藏倫敦Wellcome Library) 12
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