Hi Everyone! Welcome back to Astronomer in Shanghai! I hope that this latest update finds all of you safe, happy, and healthy! I apologize for this post being a week late. Emmet and I were both at an Astronomy Conference near Huangshan last weekend, so I didn’t have time to write. Hopefully you are all already enjoying Spring (or the start of summer if you live in a climate like Shanghai)! For those of you working in academia, I hope that the end of the semester has gone or is going well for you, too!

As I mentioned in my last post, this Spring has been such a stark contrast to last year, where I was locked down, unable to do anything. Maybe it’s because of my upcoming move to Nottingham, but I’m really trying to make the most of my time in Shanghai (and China) and visit as many interesting places as possible and do some fun things! So, with that in mind, this was another busy month.

Visit to Beijing

About 4 weeks ago, I went up to Beijing for the weekend! Part of the reason I chose that weekend was because it allowed Emmet and me to celebrate our 32nd birthday together! Even though we’ve both been in China for the last 2 years, this was the first time we’ve been able to celebrate together since 2018, so it was very special (particularly given last year’s more challenging lockdown birthday celebrations)! As you’ll see below, I’m so glad that we were able to make some lasting China memories together! It’s been so wonderful getting to see Emmet every month for the last few months. We have a few more fun trips planned during my time in China, so I’ll definitely be taking the opportunity to see Emmet more frequently before I move to Nottingham! As you’ll see below, it’s been great to see Emmet in Beijing, meet some of his friends, and get a sense of what his life is like!

Friday in Beijing: Kehillat Beijing Shabbat and 798

On Friday morning, I took the train up from Shanghai to Beijing. Having done this before, the whole process is so easy (though definitely less exciting as I’d seen the scenery). It’s a high-speed train, so it only takes ~ 4.5 hours to reach Beijing. Emmet met me at the Train Station, after which we went to his apartment. After once again I was unable to successfully register with the police online (as both Emmet and I have mentioned, all foreigners have to register with the police within 24 hours of arrival in a city in China. If you stay at a hotel, they do that for you), so Emmet and I decided to go in person on Saturday. We then went to 798, the original Beijing art district that is housed in old converted factories. It’s near where Kehillat Beijing does their Shabbat services/dinners (hosted at Roberta and Ted’s home).

One of the biggest highlights for me was getting to see the giant mecha-panda sculpture in front of the metro station by 798. Emmet and I had gotten a little statue of this panda at XII in Shanghai, so I was very excited to see the statue in person!

After seeing the panda, we went into 798, which was very cool! Even though it was a little chilly, it was fun to walk around 798 and see the different art exhibits, shops, and galleries!

One of the exhibits that we went to was by artist Inoue Naoku, who worked as a background artist on many of Hayao Miyazaki’s films! As a huge Miyazaki fan, this was really cool to see and you could really see the influence in some of the my favorite Miyazaki films like Nausicaa, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and Howl’s Moving Castle!

We also went to a few other really cool galleries!

One other really neat thing was that 798 featured these fully automated desert trucks. Basically, you scan a QR code, open the door and take a cake. Emmet and I had no clue what everything was, so we didn’t end up getting anything, but it was still really cool to see! Moreover, it even talked to us when we approached. Is this a sign of what’s to come at tourist/popular spots in the future?

After exploring 798, we went to Kehillat Beijing’s Friday Night Shabbat! Ever since Emmet arrived in Beijing I’ve wanted to join Kehillat Beijing for a Shabbat in person (partly to get to know some of the people who’ve been so kind to Emmet, but also because they have amazing and fun food). Even though Roberta and Ted were away, I was not disappointed. Students from Peking University had volunteered to make a fun Earth Day/Italian Themed Shabbat dinner! I loved the funny/pun-inspired names! Emmet even made a tasty quinoa and tofu dish! Emmet did a wonderful job leading the service! It was so much fun to sing together again in person! Plus, it was fun to meet Mimi and Honey, the puppies Emmet plays with every week!

Saturday: The Ancient Observatory and Vegan Market!

On Saturday morning, we began the day by walking by the Shichahai Lakes on our way to the police station to register. Thankfully this time, the process was much easier. Ironically, the same officer who had helped Emmet with his registration ~ 1.5 years earlier was there (she spoke English), so this time they registered me as a visitor for the weekend, not as a resident. While a frustrating process, it was certainly much smoother this time around!

After getting that taken care of, Emmet and I went to the Ancient Observatory, which is located on the outer walls (of the historical part of the Beijing) and near the heart of Beijing! Since Emmet and I are Astronomers, I knew we had to go see it! It dates back to the 1400s, which is really impressive! I will note that many of the larger instruments (that you’ll see at the end) are the originals. However, they haven’t always been in Beijing. The French and Germans actually stole some of the instruments (some were even put on display in Germany) during the Opium Wars. Thankfully all have been returned, though a few were sent to other locations around China (including Purple Mountain Observatory).

For those of you wondering, the Ancient observatory is quite different from modern observatories. While still Astronomy, the main purpose of the Observatory was measuring the positions of objects in the heavens precisely (for timekeeping), not Astronomical discovery, so the different instruments weren’t telescopes. Many of these instruments were brought by Jesuit Astronomers who visited China and then updated the equipment used by their Chinese counterparts (a theme that you’ll see repeated later in this entry). Each instrument (and replica) had amazingly ornate dragons surrounding it, which are really cool! However, they actually don’t serve a practical purpose.

My favorite part of the museum was that on top of the tower they had many of the different instruments! While they’re no longer set up for use, it was so cool to see them up close! Many of them were huge! Thanks to Emmet, I’m able to share with you what each instrument is and how it was used. For the most part, these were not instruments that I was familiar with! The instruments include an armilla, which was used to determine solar time; a quadrant, which can be used to estimate altitude and zenith; a celestial globe, which can be used to estimate the rising and setting times of celestial bodies; an ecliptic armilla, which is used to determine the ecliptic latitude and longitude (the ecliptic is the plane the planets orbit the sun in); an altazimuth, which is used to determine the azimuth of celestial bodies; an azimuth theolodite, which can be used to determine the azimuth and altitude of celestial bodies; a sextant, which is used to measure the angular distance between two points; and an equatorial armilla, which can be used to determine the true solar time and the right ascension and declination of celestial bodies (in Astronomy right ascension and declination are the equivalent of latitude and longitude in the plane of the sky)

Along with the amazing instruments, there were also some cool exhibits within the Ancient Observatory highlighting different discoveries and theories from Chinese Astronomers (like their lunar calendar and different ways of keeping time) as well as the role the Jesuit Astronomers played! While Emmet and I had learned a bit about Chinese Astronomy when we were at Brown and took a History of Astronomy Class (Astronomy before the Telescope), it was fun to learn more!

After our visit to the Ancient Observatory, Emmet and I went to the April Vegan Market! As many of you know from my comments on Emmet’s blog, I’m super jealous of the fact that Emmet is able to go to these amazing vegan markets and enjoy all of the fantastic food every month! So, I was thrilled that my visit coincided with a vegan market! And it certainly did not disappoint!

We enjoyed amazing vegan peanut butter cups, vegan goat cheese with vegetables, some amazing crepes (both savory — mushroom and caprese — and sweet — vegan nutella and nutella and banana), a vegan meatball dish, falafel, and an amazing vegan mac n’cheese (that was saved for dinner later)!

Having not had this kind of vegan food in almost 4 years, it was so much fun to enjoy so much amazing vegan food! Emmet is so lucky that he can enjoy this so frequently! Plus, it was nice to meet some of his friends in the vegan community! Along with the amazing food, there was also a raffle to support a local animal shelter and cute dogs visiting from that shelter. Emmet and I even won a few free food items from the raffle!

After such an amazing day, we ended the day by going for a walk around the Shichahai lakes near Emmet’s apartment! It’s hard to believe that in my visit just 10 weeks earlier, it was cold enough and the lakes were frozen enough that people (including us) could skate or slide across them! And of course, Emmet and I got the always delicious sugar glazed strawberries!

Sunday: A Hike on the “Wild” part of the Great Wall!

On Sunday, Emmet and I (along with Emmet’s friends Kevin and Pablo) went for a hike on the “Wild” part of the Great Wall! After almost 3.5 years in China, I finally got to experience the Great Wall!! As I’m sure you’ll be able to tell below, this was an amazing experience! It was probably one of the coolest things that I’ve ever done during my time in China and I certainly made lifelong China memories! The four of us, along with our guide, Dom, had a fantastic hike. Because we were a small group and all able to move both easily and quickly, we were able to move at a good pace and explore a lot of different parts of the Wall! For those of you unfamiliar with what I mean by the “Wild” wall, it’s important to remember that the Great Wall of China is thousands of miles long. There are certain parts that have been refurbished/restored and are used as tourist cites. These are what’s often shown when the Olympics have been in Beijing or in travel guides. In contrast, this portion of the Wall (all ~ 700+ years old) has not been restored. That said, you can still see just how amazing the Wall is! Another thing to remember is that the wall was built on the mountainous terrain, so parts of the wall slope steeply with the mountains. As a result, during our hike, often we were holding on to trees, branches, and rocks as well as a bit of sliding on our butts. Overall, it was an amazing experience and one I’ll remember for the rest of my life! I’m so glad that Emmet and I got to experience it together and use it as a way to celebrate our birthday!

To actually get up to the Great Wall, we had to hike for a bit from the road. Also, It’s amazing that after driving for 1.5 hours, we actually were still in Beijing! Below you can see the first part of the hike as well as parts of the wall that we saw on our drive in!

After the first part of our hike, we finally reached the first part of the Great Wall! Even though the first part we reached was not that wide, it was still amazing! You could feel the history around you. We then went to a small watchtower, followed by another watchtower on the other side!

After the first two watch towers, we trekked to an even further third watch tower. This time, we were slowly hiking up and down an incredibly steep and wide portion of the wall! It was somewhat terrifying because of how steep the wall was! I can’t imagine how people would ride horses up and down this portion of the wall!

After exploring so much of the Wall, we then headed back (still along the wall), but now a bit more downhill.

Since this is the last (and really only) birthday that Emmet and I were able to celebrate together in China, I’m so glad that we were able to be together and make some lasting memories during our birthday weekend! The hike was certainly amazing! In total, we climbed over 100 flights of stairs during the hike! Even though we only went a few miles, it was exhausting, but 100% worth it! If you’re in Beijing for an extended period of time, I’d definitely recommend getting out and exploring some of the “Wild” portions of the wall as it’s amazing to see how even after 700 years so much of the original (untouched) wall is still in impressive shape!

Monday & Tuesday: Our Birthday, Exploring Tsinghua, and The Olympic Park!

Monday, April 24th, Emmet and I turned 32! We started the day (actually the day before) with a wonderful call with our Aunt Pam and then on our birthday with our parents! After Emmet and I exchanged some small presents, we went up to Tsinghua’s campus for the day (Emmet and I both needed to do a bit of work). This is the first time that I’ve been on another Chinese University’s campus (I’ve been to NYU Shanghai, but it’s campus is very different from other Chinese Universities). Unfortunately, actually getting onto campus proved a bit tricky. Emmet had confirmed with one of the faculty that I was registered to be able to enter campus on Monday and Tuesday (I gave a talk on Tuesday). However, it didn’t work on Monday. Thankfully, a kind student was able to help me register on the spot. It’s certainly frustrating that it remains so difficult for foreigners to enter campus. Hopefully as China continues to open up, many of these restrictions are lessened.

During the afternoon, we met up with Emmet’s friend Miriam, who also works at Tsinghua. Miriam taught a great virtual Chinese class that Emmet and I took when Emmet arrived! So, it was really nice to actually meet her in person! Emmet showed me around a lot of the different parts of the campus, which is both large and gorgeous! First you have the more traditional parts of the campus. By traditional, I mean things that look like college campuses in the US (though there were really nice flower gardens as well)!

We could even see the observatory! Though Emmet hasn’t actually been able to enter it.

There’s also a traditional garden part of the campus! This area, along with the flower gardens and waterways are so different from what I’ve seen at US universities. Some of these aesthetics (waterways, trees, flowers) exist at SJTU, but the traditional garden reminded me more of the Yu Gardens! I can see why Emmet’s taken a lot of photos in this part of campus!

After spending the day at Tsinghua, we returned to Emmet’s apartment to go to our birthday dinner (all the food pictures will be at the end). On our way home, we stopped to see the Olympic Park, where a lot of the competitions for the 2008 Summer Olympics and 2022 Winter Olympics occurred! Below you can see the iconic Bird’s Nest, which hosted the Opening and Closing ceremonies! You can also see the Water/Ice Cube, which was used for swimming and skating! These are such iconic Olympic sites, that along with the giant snowflake from the 2022 opening ceremony and the always cute Bing Dwen Dwen, it was so cool to see!

Even though we only walked through it, I’m glad that I got to see it (as back in 2022, I was really hoping to go up to Beijing with friends to go to some of the games)! That said, it’s clear from the way that this location is setup, that Beijing certainly expects to host the Olympics again in the future.

After the Olympic Park, we enjoyed a fantastic vegan dinner at Ye Bo Zhai, a vegetarian Chinese restaurant near the Lama Temple (see photos later). However, no birthday is complete without a birthday cake! Emmet and I made a delicious strawberry cake with vegan icing and topped with vegan dolce du leche that Emmet had gotten from the vegan market! It was a tasty way to cap off our 32nd birthday!

Before heading back to Shanghai on Tuesday, Emmet and I went into Tsinghua again because Emmet set up a talk for me! While I was somewhat disappointed that both of the faculty who I am friends/collaborators with at Tsinghua were out of town, there was still a fantastic turnout. I got to present on both my research on the ICL and on the conditional luminosity function and Prof. Cheng Li asked a ton of great questions!

After my talk, Emmet and I had a great lunch at a vegan restaurant near Tsinghua, then I was off to the train station (this time, with plenty of time to spare)!

Now before wrapping up my trip to Beijing, I of course had to share photos of Goldie! While I terribly missed Scottie and Charlie, it was very nice coming home to Emmet’s cat Goldie each day! She was very friendly and really enjoyed sitting next to me! Emmet is so lucky to have her to keep him company!

I also wanted to share some other photos of all of the cool things that I saw in Beijing!

As you have likely seen throughout this entry so far, I had a fantastic birthday weekend in Beijing! Since I don’t know when Emmet and I will next live in the same country and be able to easily celebrate our birthday together, I’m so glad we had the opportunity to do so this year! This was likely my last long trip to Beijing before I move. I’m glad I was able to check off both the Forbidden City (previous trip) and the Great Wall! Truly this trip provided Emmet and me with some amazing China memories!

Lastly, just some thoughts on Beijing vs. Shanghai. Unlike my last trip, this time, we saw more of downtown Beijing, with large modern looking buildings, which were more reminiscent of Shanghai. However, I think the largest difference is the way that in Beijing the old is interspersed with the new in terms of architecture. Shanghai is super-modern, whereas Beijing has many ancient sites. Shanghai also has a more international vibe, whereas Beijing feels more Chinese (Western stores and food stand out a bit more). That said, both cities are fun places to visit!

Astronomy in Shanghai

Despite this being a very busy month (as you’ll see more of below), I still am working hard at getting as much Astronomy research done as possible. At long last, my paper on the conditional luminosity function was submitted to Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS)! Hopefully, I’ll get a positive referee report in the coming weeks. Regardless, it’s great to finally have that paper submitted!

In terms of my other projects, I’ve been spending a bunch of time on Project Low-z, the COBRA X redMaPPer project that Emmet and I are working on. I’ve done a lot of the cross-correlating of the COBRA radio catalogues to redMaPPer so we now have a lot of our statistics measured for how these radio sources occupy clusters of different masses. Hopefully, Emmet and I can get this project done this summer! I’ve also spent a lot of time updating my analysis on the fraction of cluster members observed by DESI using the new Year 1: Iron data release! Lastly, I’m starting a follow-up to my previous paper on the ICL to look at the correlation between the ICL and the magnitude gap to see if we can learn more about the hierarchical assembly of these massive galaxies!

Visiting NYU Shanghai

This past month, I also had the opportunity to visit NYU: Shanghai and give a guest lecture again! It was the same class as last time, though the version this semester was aimed at students who plan to major in the sciences (English for Academic Purposes: Foundation of Sciences – Gaze into Space)! I had the opportunity to present my research on brightest central galaxies, their evolution, the intracluster light, and galaxy populations! While not all the students asked questions, those that did asked some very specific questions (about Astronomy/Cosmology in general) on topics ranging from the nature of dark matter to the idea of parallel universes! I’m certainly hoping to do a bit more guest lecturing/outreach while I’m in Nottingham, so this was a great opportunity!

Plus, I got to visit NYU: Shanghai’s new campus!

Outside of my own research and guest lecture, this was a rather Astronomy focused month! Earlier in May, my Ph.D. supervisor, Prof. Chris Miller visited Shanghai (and SJTU) again! I was able to set up a colloquium for him and it was great to hear about what he’s been working on for the last few years! It’s always fun to discuss new research ideas with Chris and it was fun chatting with Chris and Ying together!

Tianma Radio Telescope and the Shanghai Astronomical Museum

The day before Chris’s talk at SJTU, Chris had the opportunity to visit the 65m Tianma radio telescope outside of Shanghai and he invited me and one of his former undergraduate students (who’s from Shanghai) to join! The Tianma telescope is part of the VLBI, radio telescope array! I didn’t even realize there was a huge radio telescope near Shanghai (in Sheshan)! As you can see below, it’s humongous! Even though I don’t do radio Astronomy, it was still cool to see! Plus, even though it’s so big, it’s steerable!

After visiting the Tianma telescope, we went to the nearby Shanghai Astronomical Museum in Mount Sheshan, home to the Zi-Ka-Wei Observatory! I had heard about the Observatory and Astronomical museum a few years ago (my friends Heather and Shimi had asked me about it a few years ago when it was closed and they saw it while hiking in Sheshan), so it was exciting to get to visit! While Sheshan is not really a mountain, it is higher than most of the elevation in Shanghai!

Although the Observatory is no longer operational, it was exciting to see the different kinds of telescopes that were used (both a traditional refractor and a meridian telescope, which is used to accurately map the positions of stars). Interestingly, the museum was entirely in French and Mandarin. Thankfully my high school French knowledge allowed me to still understand most of the exhibits. Much like the Ancient Observatory in Beijing, a lot of the key advancements and observations made here were done by Jesuit Astronomers who had come to China in the early 20th century.

Above you can see some of the images observed by the telescope, little bits of history associated with the Observatory, as well as the large refracting telescope. Even though it’s no longer used, it was really cool to see and I’m so glad I had the opportunity (especially since Sheshan is ~ 20 miles outside of downtown Shanghai).

The 25th Chinese Astronomical Society Guoshoujing Symposium on Galaxies and Cosmology in Huanghshan

This past weekend, Emmet and I (along with other members of both of our research groups) attended a conference near Huangshan. While it was somewhat disappointing that we didn’t actually get to see Huangshan (Yellow Mountain), it was still a good opportunity to present our research. Even though we didn’t get to go to the mountain, on Friday afternoon, we explored the Old Town, which was still cool to see!

One highlight of the Old Town was the amazing dried fruit! Emmet and I got pineapple, orange, and peaches! Since the food options weren’t great at the conference, Emmet and I were thrilled to have some tasty dried fruit we could snack on!

One really cool thing, was that Emmet and I were able to get traditional Chinese stamps made! Ideally, you use your names, but since we don’t have Chinese names, Emmet had one made that says truth, and I had one made that says Golden. Below, you can see the craftsperson carving the words!

The conference venue was a very fancy, and weirdly Italian inspired hotel.

Now to the actual conference. The conference began on Friday with registration. One highlight was that a few of our friends were there (Paulo, a former Tsinghua postdoc, and Hui, who is know a professor at Tsinghau, but did his Ph.D. with me at Michigan)! Additionally, my Ph.D. supervisor Chris was there, so it was great for Emmet and I to chat with Chris some more about Project Low-z and some follow-ups as well as having him get to hear our research! On Saturday morning, Chris gave a great talk about using machine learning to study galaxy evolution, my Zu group member, Qi’an presented on his research on bar galaxies, and Emmet gave an excellent talk on his research on galaxy morphology in protoclusters. Then on Sunday, Hui presented on his research on simulating the baryon cycle in galaxies and I presented my research on the Conditional Luminosity Function!

The primary challenge of the conference was because this was a local meeting (not targeted for an international audience), not all the talks were in English. While all the slides and posters were in English it was rather challenging to learn anything when I couldn’t follow along with what was actually being said.

Below you can see some photos from my talk, Emmet’s talk, as well as those from our friends/colleagues!

One other highlight was that I won an award for my presentation! I was surprised and thrilled to win an award for Best Oral Presentation!

After the conference, Emmet and I took the trains back to Shanghai and Beijing respectively (it was only a 3 hour train ride for me). Plus, as we left, we could see the silhouette of Huangshan, which was sadly as close to the mountain as we got.

Life in Shanghai

As you can likely tell, this was a very busy month, with two trips as well as a lot of Astronomy work. However, I did make some time for some fun activities (outside of Astronomy)! As my time in Shanghai is winding down, I wanted to make sure that I spent some time seeing my friends!

Early in May, I got to see my friend (and fellow KS board member) John before he left China (his husband, Alex, left after Passover). It was great fun to get to see John one last time before he moves. John and Alex have been such great friends the last 2-3 years in Shanghai (from holiday celebrations, to birthday parties, to Shabbats, and Trivia), so I’ll greatly miss getting to see them. Wishing them the best of luck in Fiji!

Later in May, I caught up with my friends Heather and Shimi (and their cute infant daughter) for a lovely lunch at a new Turkish restaurant (see the food section for the photos). They had been traveling in April, so it was so much fun to catch up with them and here about how their travels went! Plus their daughter is absolutely adorable!

As it’s starting to heat up in Shanghai, I haven’t gotten to go for too many runs. However, one of the things that I’ve wanted to do is run from my apartment to the Bund! I’ve done shorter runs ending at the bund, but this weekend, I did an 8.5 mile run from my apartment. This is probably the longest run I’ve done in Shanghai! While it was exhausting it was great to see my old neighborhood in Xintiandi, run by the Yu Gardens, and then end with the iconic Shanghai skyline before heading back! While it’ll likely be too hot (most days are reaching the 90s now) to do too many more runs in Shanghai, I’m glad I got to do this one!

Additionally, right by the Yu Gardens, there was this amazing street art exhibit of cat art! It was a mixture of fun cat cartoons and paintings of people’s actual cats! I love going through it (though I did just stop and walk through it)!

The F45 Playoffs!

As many of you know, I’ve been going to the F45 gym in Shanghai (Xuhui studio) for the last 2 years (thanks to my friends Hannah Maia and Sydney for convincing me to join)! It’s been a great way for me to get stronger and to stay in shape during the summer (when it’s way too hot to run). I’ve also made friends there! So, this month, I took part in the F45 playoffs! The playoffs are basically a 10 minute fitness competition where you do 10 different activities for 45 seconds, followed by 15 seconds of rest, while moving to the next station. The 10 exercises are the rower, bench hops, suspension trainer push-ups and knee tucks, lateral cone hops, box jump burpees, chin-ups, barbell squat press (30kg), medicine ball russian twist (9kg), deadball drop over shoulder (25kg), and hurdle hop sprint. As you probably suspect, this was super exhausting! But I was really proud that I was able to do it!

Across these 10 exercises, I did 221 meters on the rower, 58 bench hops, 17 suspension trainer push-ups and knee tucks, 65 cone lateral hops, 9 box jump burpees, 2 chin-ups, 11 barbell squat presses, 49 medicine ball russian twists, 10 deadball drop over shoulders, and 8 hurdle hop sprints. Now, a lot of this likely doesn’t mean much to you, but thanks to the Nike photographer and my friend from F45, Indira, I have a bunch of photos and videos to show you just what it was!

First a few photos from before I ran!

And now some photos from my actual run!

And now some videos of my run!

Doing suspension trainer and knee tuck push-ups.

Doing lateral cone hops.

Doing box jump burpees.

Doing barbell squat presses.

And doing medicine ball russian twists.

And lastly a few photos from after my run!

Overall, I got a score of 447, which for my first time, I was thrilled with (the winning men’s score was 700+)! Even though it was rather exhausting, I hope that when I’m in Nottingham I have the opportunity to compete again (there is an X11 in Nottingham)! Plus, special thanks to my friend John (who ran at the same time as me) and my friend/trainer Daniel for pushing me while scoring me in the run! Plus, I need to thank my fellow 7:15 workout buddies (Leigh, Matteo, and Indira) as well as our regular trainers Veronika and Anas for pushing me to work and train harder every day I go to F45!

Also, since I spent a lot of time walking around Shanghai this month, there were also so many cool images to share! A bunch of these are from just walking around Shanghai at night! Even after 4 years in Shanghai, I love the way the city is lit up at night!

Plus it’s so nice to enjoy walking around Shanghai and seeing all of the beautiful flowers!

While Scottie and Charlie are my favorite cats and absolutely adorable, there were also a lot of other cute cats that I saw this month, including some in Huangshan.

And as usual, there were a ton of cool anime and comics related things that I saw this month! A bunch of these were at an awesome anime store in 798 (in Beijing), then a Japanese bookstore, and some are from Uniqlo where there was a new Dragon Ball Z collection!

As I’ve said before, I love how I can see so many of the anime/manga series that I love whenever I wander around Shanghai or Beijing!

Scottie & Charlie

This was a bit of a stressful month for Scottie and Charlie. Mostly, because neither of them really enjoys when I travel. Thankfully some of my friends from F45 were able to check in on them while I was gone (and clean the litter). Charlie was at least interested and said hello, but Scottie hid (one time under the covers). Hopefully, over time, they’ll adjust to liking other people.

I’m in the process of finalizing all of the details for our move (as moving to the UK with pets adds some complications, namely that I can’t fly into the UK directly, and will instead fly to France). Also, I’m sure they will be confused/upset when I go away in June for two weeks.

That said, they still remain incredibly loving and sweet companions and are always so happy when I come home! As usual, they’re so cute when they’re cuddling, snuggling, and playing with one another!

And they’re also cute when by themselves!

They also both continue to enjoy different high perches! So, clearly there’s no places that Scottie and Charlie can’t get to in my apartment!

Food in Shanghai

With the trip up to Beijing, I had so many fantastic meals this month! Plus, I definitely want to enjoy the Chinese vegetarian food as much as possible the next few months. 🙂

After I visited NYU Shanghai, I got tea with the professor who hosted me. We went to a Japanese coffee shop (inside the Japanese bookstore) and enjoyed two fantastic deserts, the first is a yuzu cake and the second is a chocolate cake!

After our hike on the “Wild” part of the Great Wall, Emmet, Pablo, Kevin and I went for a fantastic dinner at Blossom, one of Emmet’s favorite Buddhist vegetarian restaurants. We enjoyed traditional pear soup (warm pear juice – almost a smoothie), cumin roasted mushroom skewers, kaofu, sweet veggie ribs, broad beans, kung pao mushrooms, braised bamboo, curry tofu, and three kingdoms spicy hot pot! I think the mushroom skewers, bamboo, and curry tofu were my favorites!

To celebrate our birthday, Emmet and I went for a festive meal at Ye Bo Zhai (Thank you to Mom and Dad for treating us)! We enjoyed traditional sour plum juice, fried mushrooms, bamboo/mushroom/carrot rolls, Beijing style eggplant, spicy mushrooms and peppers, tofu with matsutake mushrooms, and spicy seitan with bamboo. While it was definitely a bit too much food, given that Emmet and I won’t be celebrating a birthday together in China again, we wanted to take the opportunity to indulge. I think my favorites were the eggplant, spicy mushrooms with peppers, and spicy seitan with bamboo!

Just prior to leaving Beijing, Emmet, Pablo, and I went to Tianchun MiaoXiang, the vegetarian restaurant that is located right next to Tsinghua’s campus! We enjoyed Coconunt milk with mango and sago (tapioca balls), chestnuts and taro balls, flame tofu, fried lotus root, tofu skin rolls filled with mushrooms, vegetarian eel (tofu), and cauliflower! It was another fantastic meal and I can see why Emmet and his friends go there regularly! My favorites were the chestnuts and taro balls and all the tofu dishes!

Early in May, at John’s farewell party, I enjoyed some delicious buffalo cauliflower! While not Chinese in the slightest, I haven’t enjoyed buffalo cauliflower that I haven’t made in quite a few years, so it was a treat to get to eat something I used to enjoy in the US!

Additionally, during the May Day Holiday (International workers day), I got lunch at Godly with one of my friends. We enjoyed the fried vegetarian duck (tofu skin), tofu knots with vegetarian pork (seitan), stir fried broad beans, and cauliflower. Afterwards we tried another vegan cafe (Fortunate Vegan Cafe) and enjoyed a delicious blueberry cheesecake! While I love the tofu knots, the vegetarian duck is probably my favorite!

During this past month, I enjoyed dumplings twice. The first are from the Jiashan market and filled with mushrooms (and proved to be a great treat after the F45 playoffs). I also steamed dumplings (filled with tofu and greens) that I got from Godly!

As you can see by all the different types of Chinese food that I enjoyed, I love how diverse and different each restaurant is. Even though many of the restaurants are Buddhist vegetarian restaurants and some have similar menus, it’s always fun to try new dishes!

While I often highlight all the amazing vegan/vegetarian food. I do want to note that it can be challenging to get this kind of food in China, particularly outside of large cities. While Emmet and I were at the conference, it was particularly challenging. While breakfast was pretty good (there were baozi, steamed corn, yams, and pumpkin, salad, and cereal), lunch was often rice or bao buns with steamed corn and bok choy. Not exactly a balanced meal. Emmet and I supplemented this with pb&j sandwiches, but it still made the conference meals less enjoyable.

As previously mentioned, I had a fantastic turkish meal with my friends Heather and Shimi! We enjoyed Turksh bagels, hummus, Mediterranean salsa, bulgur, roasted peppers, pickles, eggplant, grape leaves, and I got a fruit punch! While I haven’t had much Turkish food before, I thought this was excellent!

Lastly, as it’s started to get quite warm, I enjoyed two frozen treats! The first is an Oatly ice cream bar (you can get it at most convenience stores). Oatly is insanely popular in China. The second is an interesting green pea flavored ice cream I got on Mount Sheshan. I’ll note that I thought it was lime when I grabbed it. I also enjoyed a refreshing waxberry juice while in Huangshan!

Even though I ate a ton of delicious meals, I still did some cooking, too! I enjoyed vegan brownie cookies, black bean and quinoa tex mex burgers, homemade seitan with roasted vegetables, and two different tofu and vegetable stir-fries!

Jewish Life in Shanghai

This past month, we had our first Kehilat Shanghai Community Shabbat since John and Alex left. As such, we had to test out a new location (using the WeWork space), which worked out quite well! While I didn’t take any photos, I’m thrilled that we have new community members (Community Shabbat regulars) who have stepped up to help organize community shabbat so that it can continue to happen monthly going forward!

We also had two more Trivia nights (the penultimate one). While the attendance is starting to get smaller as many of the regulars have moved or are traveling more frequently for work, it still was great fun to get to do it! I’ve included my questions at the end!

What I’m Reading and Watching

This month, I finished two books. The first being The Best Sports Writing of 2019, edited by Charlie Pierce (who Emmet, my Dad, and I all loved on the radio show/podcast Only a Game)! While I had read some of the stories years ago it amazes me how timeless a great sports story can be and also reiterates how important long-form journalism is, particularly in sports where things often seem to be dominated by talking heads and podcasts! The second book that I finished was Peony: A Novel of China, by Pearl Buck. I have rather conflicting thoughts on this book. While the historical setting of the book (set in the 1800s in Kaifeng as the Jewish community is starting to fully assimilate into the Chinese community) was interesting. I couldn’t help by feel that many of the characters were portrayed in somewhat stereotypical ways. Moreover, it felt like each character (in particular Peony, David, and Madame Ezra) were dominated entirely by their own selfishness (in terms of who David should marry and for what reasons). This made it hard to read at times because the primary characters were often unlikeable. Overall, the historical setting of the book was rather interesting and the Kaifeng Jewish community remains something that I still know very little about, which makes it interesting, but perhaps I would enjoy an actual history book on the topic as opposed to a romance novel.

In terms of TV, this month, I finished watching the 2nd season of Perry Mason on Max (formerly HBOMax), which I thought was fantastic! Matthew Rhys, Juliet Rylance, and Chris Chalk, provide excellent performances and create characters with far more nuance and depth than we see in many modern law shows. I love the approach that this show takes with a single case for the entire season. Plus, the way that Los Angeles is treated, very much as a seedy underbelly almost makes the city a character in the show. I hope that there’s a third season as I’d love to see more in this world! Speaking of Los Angeles, I finished the 14th and final season of NCIS: Los Angeles. It’s somewhat the end of an era, as Emmet and I have been watching it since college. While it’s nothing amazing, it’s always fun and enjoyable, even if it often does over glorify the military and guns. I also finished Hello Tomorrow on Apple TV, something of a dark comedy re-imagining a future where it would be possible for people to live on the moon. The series follows Billy Crudup who plays a business man/con-man whose convinced people to move to the Bright Side despite their being no homes on the moon. It’s overall a very interesting series, but not heartwarming or fun like other Apple TV shows such as Ted Lasso or Shrinking. I also finished Extrapolations on Apple TV as well. This is a show which imagines what will happen to the world if climate change gets out of hand and how we can try and fail to overcome it. The show is fascinating. As someone who is very worried about climate change (and skeptical that big businesses can or will help), this show did an excellent job of imagining my worst fears for the future. Even though it’s not always fun, it was so interesting to see how the future may end up and the long term ramifications of our continued inaction. I also finished watching Season 6 of My Hero Academia, which was fantastic! My Hero Academia is one of my favorite manga/anime series and this season was non-stop action from the start! If you’re a fan of the superhero genre I would definitely check it out! Lastly, I also finished watching the mid-2000s anime Air Gear, which builds on the hype of roller blades and invents air tracks, which are motorized roller blades allowing riders to fly through the air. While a bit cheese-cakey at times, it was a fun series. For those of you wondering, I have 1 more episode of Mrs. Maisel and Ted Lasso, so I will comment on those next time.

If you’ve gotten this far, thank you for reading. I know this was another rather long update, and comes a week later, but as you can see it was a very busy month! Next month, should be a little quieter as I’m going to the UK for two weeks. My parents will be in Bath, and Emmet is also joining, so we’ll have our first family reunion in almost 4 years!! I’ll share a few highlights from that, but not as many details, since the focus of this blog is about my time in Shanghai. If you have any questions about anything that I shared or anything else related to life in Shanghai, please reach out and let me know!

In peace,
Jesse

Trivia

April

Round 1: April Showers (Weather and Precipitation)

1).žName this type of menacing looking cloud that is multilevel and known to produce thunder and lightning storms?
2). žIn the Bible, how long did it rain when G-d Flooded the earth (in the Noah story)
3). žSan Antonio de Ureca on the island of Bioko, a city in this country located on the top of the equator receives the most rainfall in the year, averaging 418 inches per year
4). žThese two weather storms that occur every year only differ depending on the location.  If it’s in the North Atlantic, central/eastern North Pacific it’s this.  If it’s in the Northwestern Pacific (East Asia) it’s called this.  
5). žAomori, a city in this country, located at an elevation of 5000 ft, gets an average of 312 inches of snow per year making it the snowiest city in the world
6). žIt’s raining cats and dogs is this type of expression in English?
7). žIn the northern hemisphere, does a cyclone rotate clockwise or counterclockwise?
8). žName these 4 main types of clouds?
9). žName this type of precipitation that consists of small balls or lumps of solid rain.  It typically lasts 15 minutes but can damage buildings, vehicles, and crops.
10). žIn the Passover Story, this type of weather phenomenon occurred, which ultimately led Jacob and his sons to migrate to Egypt (because Joseph had foreseen this in his vision and prepared for it)

Answers: 1). Cumulonimbus 2). 40 days and 40 nights 3). Equitorial Guinea 4). Hurricane and Typhoon 5). Japan 6). Idiom 7). Counterclockwise 8). Cirrus, cumulus, stratus, nimbus 9). Hail 10). Drought

Round 2: Why on this Night do we Eat … (Emmet wrote this one)

1).žThe Feast of Seven Fishes is a popular Italian-American way to celebrate this holiday
2). žBecause the Muslim calendar has no intercalation (no leap months), the length of fasting required by this holiday fluctuates depending on the time of the year
3). žAlthough most Jews associate a Seder with Passover, we also celebrate a Seder for Tu B’shvat.  What are the three types of fruits and nuts served
4). žIn China, people celebrate Tomb Sweeping day by eating delicious green Qing Tian cakes.  The green cake gets its color from this.
5). In Japan, the Hanami Celebration, which celebrates the appearance of this, includes making onigiri, miso, and Sakura mochi
6). This cake, which is eaten during Mardi Gras, is known for the prize hidden inside
7). In Thailand, Tesagan Gin Jay is a holiday celebrated during the 9^th month of the Lunar calendar and is observed by partaking in a 10 day festival where people follow this type of diet
8). Turkeys are the primary main course eaten during Thanksgiving.  How many turkeys does the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign estimate Americans eat during Thanksgiving? (within 10 million)
9). žThese sticky rice dumplings are enjoyed on Dragon Boat Festival in China 
10). žAlthough most American Jews only fast on Yom Kippur, Orthodox Judaism has how many fasting holidays?

Answers 1). Christmas 2). Ramadan 3). Fruits & nuts with a hard (inedible) exterior and a soft interior; Fruits & nuts with a soft exterior and a hard inside bit;; Fruits that are eaten whole 4). Mugwort 5). Cherry Blossoms 6). King Cake 7). Vegetarian 8). 46 million 9). Zongzi 10). 6, Fast of Gedilah, Yom Kippur, Asarah B’Tevet, Fast of Esther, Shivah Asar B’Tammuz, Tisha B’Av

Round 3: Passover

1). In the Passover story, who rescues baby Moses from the Nile and also names him?
2). žName the 10 plagues (for 5 points)
3). žIn the song song at the end of the Seder, Chad Gad ye, how much is the goat purchased for?
4). žWhat are the ingredients used in the Hillel sandwich?
5). Moses is appointed to lead the Israelites out of Egypt when he encounters G-d in the form of this plant?
6). žWhich prophet is invited in to join the Seder after the festive meal?
7). žWhat is the vegetarian alternative for a shankbone on the Seder plate?
8). When the Israelites are wandering for 40 years in the desert, what food item is provided by G-d?
9). žWho is Miriam, who has her own cup of water on the Seder plate?
10). žName the Four Sons who ask questions about Passover (2 points)

Answers: 1). Pharaoh’s daughter 2). blood, frogs, lice, wild animals, pestilence, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, death of the firstborn 3). 2 zuzim 4). Matzah, maror, charoset 5). Burning bush 6). Elijah 7). Mushroom or Beet 8). Mana 9). Moses’s sister 10). The wise son, the wicked son, the simple son, the son who doesn’t know how to ask

Round 4: April Fools (the Wonderful world of Jewish Comedians) (Emmet wrote this)

1). žThis comedian, who’s returned to the zeitgeist thanks to The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, tragically died at age 40 in 1966
2). žThis ground-breaking female comedian (who was known for her role on the Fashion Police in the 2000s) is the inspiration for Midge Maisel
3). žAlthough he’s best known for his work on Curb Your Enthusiasm and playing Bernie Sanders on SNL, Larry David is also the co-creator of this iconic sitcom that premiered in 1989. 
4). žThis modern day political commentator/comedian who’s won multiple Emmy and Grammy awards actually has Chinese roots!  His grandfather was an Ashkenazi Jew born in Manzhouli (which is now part of inner Mongolia)
5). Best known for movies like Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, and Spaceballs, Mel Brooks recently returned to television by writing and producing this sequel (to a previous work of his)
6). Well, you must have seen this one coming.  While my brother and I were often referred to as the Marx brothers as children, these are the stage names of the five Marx brothers
7). Other than Bob Hope, this comedian has hosted the Oscars more than anyone else
8). Best known for his shrill New York accent, he was the voice of Iago the parrot in Aladdin
9). žThis original “nutty professor” teamed with Dean Martin early in his career and later mastered the art of telethons raising money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association 
10). žOf the original “The Not Ready for Prime Time Players” on Saturday Night Live, these are the only ones who fit the category

Answers: 1). Lenny Bruce 2). Joan Rivers 3). Seinfeld 4). Jon Stewart 5). History of the World, Part II 6). Chico, Harpo, Groucho, Gummo, Zeppo 7). Billy Crystal 8). Gilbert Goffried 9). Jerry Lewis 10). Gilda Radner, Laraine Newman

Round 5: Connections

1). žName this pickled relish dish that is used to preserve summer vegetables and is a staple of Southern American cuisine
2). Name this savory popover-like dish made from eggs, milk, and flour that originated in a town in England.
3). žName this song by Paul Simon, where the titular character is a poor boy whose story is seldom told.
4). žCharles Darwin’s voyage to the Americas to study the finches and evolution occurred on this ship.
5). Name this actress who was recently nominated for an Academy Award and is known for her roles in the Black Panther franchise (what she was nominated for), Malcolm X, Mission Impossible Fallout, and What’s Love got to do with it.
6). žEach year on Patriot’s Day, this sporting event in the US is run (it happened yesterday).
7). žThis classic Italian sauce for pasta is made with ground meat, a soffrito of onions, carrots, and celery, tomato and milk
8).  In 1971, this women’s college merged with Brown University
9). žArmando Christian Perez is the birth name of this Cuban-American rapper and singer known for songs including “I know you want me,” “Give me Everything,” “Feel this Moment.” And “We are One”
10). What is the Connection?

Answers: 1). Chowchow 2). Yorkshire Pudding 3). The Boxer 4). The Beagle 5). Angela Bassett 6). The Boston Marathon 7). Bolognese 8). Pembroke 9). Pitt Bull 10). Dogs

May Trivia

Round 1: Mayhem (Famous Crashes)

1). žAuto Racing Legend, Dale Earnhardt Sr, died in a horrific car crash at this motor speed way?
2). The largest airplane crash occurred in 1977 when two Boeing 747’s collided on the runway in this airport located in the Canary Islands?
3). žIn 1987, the largest single day decline (or crash) in the Dow Jones Industrial Average occurred and has since been renamed this?
4). žIn this 1988 film about minor league baseball, Kevin Costner stars as “Crash” Davis, a veteran catcher brought in to teach “Nuke” Laloosh how to prepare for the big leagues.
5). In 2022, this lost vessel of Edmund Shackleton, which collided with sea ice in 1915 was found at the bottom of the Weddel Sea in Antarctica
6). žThe largest shipwreck in history (during peacetime) occurred in 1987 in this country when the Dona Paz passenger ferry collided with the oil tanker MT Vector.
7). žThis beloved British royal died following a car crash in 1997, at just 36 years old.
8). This video game series/character that is exclusive to PlayStation has had many games and spinoffs (including racing).  Most games are set on the Wumpa Ilsands south of Australia, and all star this genetically enhanced animal?  The next installment of the game __ Team Rumble will be released in June.
9). žThe sinking of this British passenger ship by German U-Boats in 1915 is often credited as one of the reasons that the US chose to enter WWI
10). žSomewhat ironically, this star of the Fast and Furious Franchise died in a car accident caused by the car reaching speeds greater than 93 mph

Answers: 1). Daytona 2). Tenerife 3). Black Monday 4). Bull Durham 5). Endurance 6). Phillipines 7). Princess Diana 8). Crash Bandicoot 9). Lusitania 10). Paul Walker

Round 2: MAYonnaise: Condiments from Around the World (Emmet wrote)

1). žBring on the spice!  This chili paste is a staple of North African cuisine
2). žAlthough not thought of as a condiment in the US, this condiment is a staple of fish & chips in the UK
3). žBe careful when you’re eating this condiment.  Its potent flavor can really blow your palette if you’re not careful when adding it to your sushi (or peas)!
4). žOne of my favorites, this savory pepper and walnut spread hails originally from Syria
5). This King of American condiments has a long mytho-history, which includes claims that the name comes from Cantonese
6). Another spicy Chili paste, this is an essential part of Bibimbap and other Korean dishes (and no, we’re not talking about kimchi!)
7). A staple of Sichuan cuisine, this oil is an essential part of the topping in DanDan noodles (and again, bring on the heat!)
8). A key ingredient in both Hummus and Babaganouch, this Israeli condiment is known for its nutty flavor
9). žAlso called “rooster sauce”, this Thai condiment is a staple of hipster diners everywhere
10). žThis classic Italian relish is a mixture of pickled vegetables and usually served on antipasto platters

Answers: 1). Harissa 2). Malt vinegar 3). wasabi 4). Muhammara 5). Ketchup 6). Gochujang 7). Chili Oil 8). Tahini 9). Sriracha 10). Giardiniera (or sottaceti)

Round 3: Famous Beards — All photos, so I can’t include it

Round 4: The Fab Five (Emmet wrote it)

1). žThe “Fab Five” was the moniker of this college basketball team in the 1990s featuring Jalen Rose and Chris Webber
2). žAlthough Pete Best was technically the 5^th person to be in the Beatles (well, 4^th really, Ringo replaced him), these two men are often referred to as the 5^th Beatle
3). žThese are the 5 books of Moses
4). žThe classic Take 5 bar from Hershey includes these 5 key ingredients
5). There have been two incarnations of this police tv show.  The first starred Jack Lord as Steve McGarret, while in the remake, Steve McGarrett was played by Alex O’Laughlin
6). Although this band, known for songs like “Superman (It’s Not Easy)” and “100 Years” fits the category, all of the music is played and sung by one man, John Ondrasik
7). These are the five pillars of Islam (English is fine)
8). Xi Jinping’s current 5 year plan for China is what number five year plan for the PRC?
9). ž5 Centimeters per Second is an anime film by this modern master of anime movies
10). This team of DC comics villains is known for fighting the Teen Titans and features villains including Dr. Light, Jinx, Mammoth, Shimmar, Gizmo, and Psimon

Answers: 1). the University of Michigan Men’s basketball team 2). Brian Epstein, George Martin 3). Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy 4). Chocolate, Peanuts, Peanut Butter, Caramel, Pretzels 5). Hawaii Five-0 6). Five for Fighting 7). Declaration of Faith, Prayer, Almsgiving, Fasting, Pilgrimage 8). 14th (it ends in 2025). 9). Makoto Shinkai 10). The Fearsome Five

Round 5: Connections

1). žWhat is the name that Wolverine (the comic book character) is called when not in costume?
2). This royal from Monaco provided the world a fairy tale story when he married Hollywood Actress Grace Kelley in 1956?
3). žIn the Knives Out franchises, Daniel Craig plays this character, the greatest detective in the world?
4). žIn Chess, this action is the only time two pieces can move at once?
5). In Greek Mythology, this titan is condemned to hold up the heavens/sky?
6). žIn British English, this phrase means to begin the consideration of a process, in American English, it has the opposite meaning and instead means to put aside a topic for consideration for a later date
7). žThis song by Coldplay has been described by Chris Martin as being about devotion or unrequited love.  It begins with the lines “Look at the stars, Look how they shine for you,…”
8). This American professional boxer held the world heavyweight title from 1952 to 1956 and was the only heavyweight champion to have finished his career undefeated.
9). žThis type of apple was a cross between Red Delicious and Old Virigina Ralls Janet apples and was cultivated at the Tohoko Research Station near Aomori, Japan?
10). What is the Connection?

Answers: 1). Logan 2). Prince Rainier III 3). Benoit Blanc 4). Castle 5). Atlas 6). To Table 7). Yellow 8). Rocky Marciano 9). Fuji Apples 10). Mountains