Uncategorized – Page 10 – Astronomer in Shanghai

April 5, 2020

Life in Quarantine: Week 10

Welcome to Astronomer in Shanghai! Thank you so much for your interest in my life and experiences in Shanghai! As the world continues to be faced with the covid-19 pandemic, I want this blog to serve as a message of hope. Life during this pandemic is difficult; however, eventually things will improve. While life is beginning to return to normal here, you can really see the improvement over the last 9 entries. I note that this timeline will not be the same everywhere. However, more importantly, if people work together and cooperate with social distance guidelines, things will improve. If you haven’t been following along with my blog, please check out my previous entries.

If you find my blog uplifting or helpful please, subscribe and let me know! To subscribe, enter your name and e-mail on the right side of the page. Once subscribed, you’ll receive an e-mail with each new post. If you have any questions about the current covid-19 situation, how I’ve dealt with it, or life in Shanghai, please ask. Instructions are on the “To Comment” page. Also, if you know anyone who needs reassurance that eventually life will return to a semblance of normalcy, please share this blog with them.

Life in Shanghai

As the situation around the world becomes far more concerning than the situation in Shanghai, I want to begin by checking in with all of you. How are you doing? How has the latest week of staying home and working from home gone for you? Most importantly, I hope that you, your family, and your friends are all healthy and staying safe. Just as many of you were checking in with how I was doing in February, I want to make sure that all of you continue to be doing okay.

One of the primary reasons I’ve continued to update this blog each week is to providea light at the end of the tunnel. While life has not returned entirely to normal in Shanghai, things are definitely improving. I believe that we’ve reached something of a new normal. Schools are still closed (now done online). However, many shops and restaurants have reopened and each time I leave my apartment I see lots of people walking outside. So, please know that while my experience during the covid-19 pandemic is not over, it has greatly improved. I do caution that the extreme measures enforced by the Chinese government likely helped curtail the spread of covid-19, so the timeline that I present may not be applicable to all of you. However, things will get better.

I also want to emphasize that it’s okay to be scared, nervous, or anxious about this situation as I have been. The absence of a vaccine for covid-19 makes this an incredible nerve-wracking experience. The best advice that I can give is to take a positive attitude and try to focus on the things that you can control, such as following social distancing guidelines, washing your hands, and not spending the entire day looking at news websites, facebook, or listening to the current occupant of the white house. If you need something to listen to instead, I recommend American Public Media’s Make me Smart podcast with Kai Ryssdal and Molly Wood. Also, as I’ve said before, It’s really important to make sure that even during this period of social distancing, we’re still connecting with people, whether it’s through Zoom, FaceTime, or the regular old telephone.

To update you on the situation in Shanghai. I continue to remain healthy, safe, and happy. Overall, the situation has improved in Shanghai. The large reductions in the number of arrivals, particularly the removal of non-Chinese arrivals, has reduced the number of new cases of covid-19 in Shanghai. There were only 39 new cases this week. There are currently 169 active cases (all but 6 of which are imported). The recovery rate is currently at 65%, which matches last week. For China as a whole, the recovery rate is estimated at ~93%. However, China only recently began recording the number of asymptomatic cases, so it is very likely that there remain more active cases and that the recovery rate is not quite this high. Optimistically, I hope that over time, as the curves begin to be flattened (hopefully over the next few weeks), we’ll see the recovery rates rise elsewhere. Additionally, I do want to note that while the recovery rate remains high, there is a lot of caution here that a second wave of the virus may still hit, so preventative measures like QR codes, temperature checks, and an abundance of hand sanitizer remain in effect.

At this point, I think all of you are well accustomed to working from home, which can be both productive and challenging. At times, I find that I’m more easily distracted. Whether it’s getting frustrated with an absence of research progress and reading comic books or it’s periodically deciding I need to clean my apartment, one thing I’ve noticed is that it’s hard to be productive every day. However, I try to set goals for myself and to accomplish something (even if it’s just reading a paper) each day. This past week, I made more progress on my DES paper. I’m almost done with this project! I have one last thing to do; however, the data I need is currently stuck on a Michigan computer, which for reasons that remain unclear, neither I or my Ph.D. advisor Chris Miller are able to access. So, hopefully I’ll resolve that issue soon. I’ve also started working on some of the codes for my DESI research. This week, I had a ton of Zoom activities. I had the Zu group meeting, meetings with Ying, Chris, and my friend and collaborator Yuanyuan Zhang as well as group meetings with the SJTU postdocs, and an astronomy colloquium. So, lots of time in front of the computer, which I find can be quite tiring.

While I did a lot of work this week, I also had time for some fun things! With the weather warming (mostly in the 60s), I was able to go running 3 times. I did 6 miles on Saturday, my longest run since January! As I’ve highlighted in previous posts, every time I go outside, it’s really wonderful to see Shanghai in bloom!

I also did a ton of cooking in preparation for Passover. I made Matzo ball soup with vegan matzo balls, my Dad’s charoset, vegan mozzerella cheese, spiced chickpeas, and chocolate tofu mousse! So, I’ll have plenty of delicious food to eat during the upcoming holiday.

Additionally, we’re still able to get together here. So, on Monday, I got dinner with my friends Heather and Shimi at an Indian restaurant.

Then, on Thursday, we met at Heather’s apartment for dinner. This was monumental, because it was the first time that I had been allowed into another person’s apartment since the covid-19 outbreak in January! Very early on, Shanghai instituted a ban on non-residents into neighborhoods and compounds. It’s great to see that policy lifting as things improve. Both opportunities to hang out together were great fun, filled with discussions about Passover, Academia, and unsurprisingly the current covid-19 situation. While it’s always fun to meet at a restaurant, it was so nice getting to relax in someone’s home for a change.

Along with the lovely nature in Shanghai, I also saw some other cool things around Shanghai this week!

Food in Shanghai

As previously mentioned, on Monday, Heather, Shimi, and I went to a fantastic Indian restaurant! It was definitely the best Indian food I’ve had here in Shanghai. We had delicious naan bread, a fantastic spinach dish, a lentil dal that just warmed me up, as well as yummy mushroom and eggplant dishes!

When we got together again on Thursday, Heather made a fantastic bbq jackfruit meal, which instantly transported me back to the US! Unlike in the US, jackfruit is really easy to get. Oftentimes, you get it raw (not canned) from local fruit markets! I’m looking forward to cooking more with jackfruit myself as well!

Additionally, on Sunday, I got together for lunch with my friend Hannah Maia to finalize the plans for the Moishe House Seder, which I’m co-leading. I got a very nice vegan green Shakshuka.

Jewish Life in Shanghai

As I’m sure many of you are aware, Passover begins on Wednesday night! The situation in Shanghai has improved enough that we are fortunate to be able to do in person Seders. I’m co-leading the Moishe House Seder on Wednesday night with Hannah Maia and leading the Kehilat Shanghai Seder on Thursday. I look forward to updating you on how those go. So, given the proximity of the holiday, I spent a lot of time preparing for leading the Seders. Special thanks to my Dad for all his help with outlining a Seder and discussions about what the most important parts are. Additionally, as mentioned, on Sunday, Hannah Maia and I finalized our plans for the Moishe House Seder.

Thanks to Chabbad, I was able to get all the food I needed for Passover, including what I needed to make vegan matzo ball soup!

In addition to Seder planning, we had a zoom Shabbat on Friday. I’m glad that we’ve continued to do these throughout this whole experience, since it’s been a nice way to connect with community members both in Shanghai and abroad.

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been working from home for 10 weeks now. I’m glad that I’m able to stay somewhat productive and also see some of my friends. I hope that you all are able to stay productive and connect with friends and family even if it’s not in person.

I hope that this update about my life during the covid-19 pandemic in Shanghai provides comfort and assurance that things will improve. Please take social distancing seriously and help flatten the curve. This week, I hope to get some research done while also preparing for Passover. To all of you who are celebrating Passover, I hope that you have a meaningful holiday experience. Maybe instead of ending by saying “Next year in Jerusalem”, we should be saying “Next year Together.” I look forward to sharing with you stories and photos from my Seders! If you have any questions/comments or concerns about the current covid-19 situation, let me know. If you need advice for dealing with a more isolated life or need someone to talk to, please reach out. Given all of the love and support I received from you all, I’d love to provide you with my own.

In peace,
Jesse

March 29, 2020March 29, 2020

Life in Quarantine: Week 9

Welcome to Astronomer in Shanghai! Thank you so much for your interest about my life and experiences in Shanghai! As the world continues to deal with the covid-19 epidemic, I want this blog to serve as a message of hope that while this entire experience is difficult, eventually things will improve. It will take awhile to return to normal, but nonetheless, things will get better. You can see the arc of improvement over the last 8 entries. I do note that this may not be the same timeline everywhere. If you haven’t been following along with my blog, please check out these entries.

https://astronomerinshanghai.com/uncategorized/life-in-quarantine-week-1/
https://astronomerinshanghai.com/uncategorized/life-in-quarantine-week-2/
https://astronomerinshanghai.com/uncategorized/life-in-quarantine-week-3/
https://astronomerinshanghai.com/uncategorized/life-in-quarantine-week-4/
https://astronomerinshanghai.com/uncategorized/life-in-quarantine-week-5/
https://astronomerinshanghai.com/uncategorized/life-in-quarantine-week-6/
https://astronomerinshanghai.com/uncategorized/life-in-quarantine-week-7/
https://astronomerinshanghai.com/uncategorized/life-in-quarantine-week-8/

If you enjoy my blog, subscribe and let me know! To subscribe, enter your name and e-mail on the right side of the page. Once subscribed, you’ll receive an e-mail with each new post. If you have any questions about Shanghai or the current situation, please ask. Instructions are on the “To Comment” page. Also, if you know anyone who needs reassurance that things will get improve, please share this blog with them.

Life in Shanghai

As I did last week, I want to ask all of you how you are doing. Hopefully you and your families continue to stay safe and healthy. As the number of cases around the world, but particularly in the US have skyrocketed, I continue to feel for all of you and hope the the situation will improve. Covid-19 has brought the world to a standstill. I’m sure that many of you are adjusting to a new normal. Whether it’s your first week or two of working from home, having to deal with kids who are now going to school online, or figuring out how to get groceries delivered, I’m sure this has been a difficult experience. While the situation that I’ve experienced living in Shanghai is not entirely the same as what you are experiencing, I hope that you can take comfort in reading about my experiences and learning how things are moving in the right direction here in China. As I said in my opening, things are generally improving and they will begin to elsewhere as well.

I hope that all of you are taking social distancing to heart. That practice, along with maintaining good health and hygiene (WASH YOUR HANDS FOR 20 SECONDS) are the two most important things to slow the spread of covid-19 and stay safe. Additionally, while social distancing is difficult, I hope you can connect digitally via Skype or Zoom or over the phone with friends, family, and colleagues who are in similar situations. Those conversations have really helped me stay positive during this situation.

Before I discuss the situation here in Shanghai, I want to emphasize that we must refer to this virus as covid-19 and not by any of the racist names that have been touted by the current administration. Being here in China, I can see how deeply the virus has impacted people’s day-to-day lives as well as many businesses. These people and other Asian peoples around the world are not to blame for covid-19 and by referring to this virus in any of the names that the current occupant of the White House has used only gives credence to the notion that someone is at fault for this pandemic. This is clearly scapegoating tactics being used to distract from the fact that the current administration has failed the United States. Moreover, the world needs to come together to support doctors, nurses, and scientists who are working to fight and prevent the spread of covid-19, not be divided by racial lines.

While life is generally moving in the right direction here, we are still not in the clear. Although I remain healthy and safe, everything is not normal. The situation in Shanghai has unfortunately gotten worse in the last week. Many of the museums that were previously reopened have been closed again. Additionally, while there have been almost no local cases, there have been a large number of imported cases this week. In total, there were 98 imported cases this week (492 total). This is the largest single week increase in quite some time. Based on the number of imported cases here in China, there is a lot of fear of a second wave of covid-19. In an effort to curtail this situation, China has temporarily banned all foreign visa holders from entering the country. However, given that a number of the imported cases are from native Chinese citizens returning home, it’s unclear how effective these efforts will be. Currently, in Shanghai, the recovery rate is down to ~68%. Most of those still infected are recent returnees. However, for China as a whole, the recovery rate is currently ~ 92%. So, hopefully, Shanghai’s number will increase and over time, the number of people who fully recover will start to drastically increase both in the US and elsewhere abroad.

I also want to emphasize that China has been dealing with this situation for over 2 months and is still not fully recovered. Thus, I want to emphasize that any belief that the situation in the US will be fully recovered (or recovered enough) to fully reopen the economy for Easter is both foolhardy and dangerous. So, I ask that all of you continue to follow social distancing guidelines and help to flatten the curve.

Given that the number of cases has continued to rise in Shanghai, it is unsurprising that SJTU (the university where I work) remains closed and will likely continue to do so for the foreseeable future. While this is disappointing, I am still able to productively do my research from home. I made some great progress on my first DES paper and only have one final research task to rerun before finishing the paper. Additionally, I was finally able to take the time to start work on my DESI research. Additionally, I continue to have good research meetings with my research group here at SJTU and with colleagues abroad. One benefit of everyone working from home is that it’s been a bit easier scheduling meetings with collaborators in different time zones. 🙂

In addition to work this week, I was able to go running twice! It was very warm earlier in the week, even reaching near 80 (it’s back in the 50s/60s now)! I’m very glad that I’m able to go running surrounded by so many beautiful signs of spring!

I also saw an adorable cat during my run! There are lot of stray cats all around Shanghai.

Additionally, there continues to be no shortage on food. So, I’ve continued to buy lots of delicious and healthy food. This week, I made black bean soup and chocolate tahini cookies!

In addition to my runs, I also did some fun things this weekend. There aren’t restrictions on groups, so on Friday a group of 12 of us got together for Shabbat dinner. We went to a hot pot restaurant, which was a lot of fun (more on hot pot later)!

Then on Saturday, a group of my friends from Moishe House got together to play games! We played Quirkle, Cards Against Humanity, and Ramen Fury! It was a lot of fun to hang out together and enjoy a rainy Saturday playing games! The experience almost felt normal (except that we weren’t able to meet at the actual Moishe House, since foreign guests aren’t currently being allowed in that residential complex). Also, my chocolate tahini cookies were a hit! 🙂

Food in Shanghai

For Shabbat dinner, we went to a hotpot restaurant! For those of you unfamiliar, hot pot works like this.

1). Select your soup — I got a vegan vegetable soup
2). Select your veggies/proteins — We got loads of vegetables for the table (mushrooms, carrots, squash, lotus root, cabbage, lettuce, spinach, potatoes). Unfortunately, the restaurant was out of tofu 🙁
3). Make your dipping sauce — I mixed together soy sauce, fermented bean paste, peanut butter, chilis, sesame seeds, and scallions for a peanut sauce.
4). Cook your vegetables/proteins in the soup
5). Enjoy!

Below you can see the different ingredients I used in my hot pot meal as well as some scallion pancakes!

In general, hot pot is a lot of fun. It’s a great way to eat a ton of veggies, but some (like the lotus root took a long time to cook). I do wish we could have had some tofu though.

Additionally, on Wednesday, I also got lunch at a vegan restaurant with my friend Hannah Maia to talk about planning the Passover Seders.

We had tofu with bamboo and mushrooms, seitan ribs, noodles with vegetables, and eggplant! Chinese eggplant is amazing! Overall, it was another delicious vegan meal!

Jewish Life in Shanghai

In addition to starting to plan Passover, on Friday, as I mentioned earlier, a group of my friends from Moishe House got together to celebrate Shabbat.

You can see photos of us saying the blessings over the wine and over the Challah! It’s been really nice to see more and more people joining our weekly Shabbat gatherings, especially as the situation has begun to improve here in Shanghai. While I enjoy the Zoom Shabbats, and virtual activies, it’s been really nice to get together with people in person again.

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been following the self-isolation guidelines and working from home for 9 weeks now. For the most part, I think that I’ve adapted well to my new routine and I’m glad that I’m still able to be productive. As many of you start your new work from home routines, I hope that you’re able to find the same success. If you need any advice about how I’ve been productive feel free to reach out.

I hope that this update about the covid-19 situation in Shanghai provides comfort and assurance that things will improve. It’s very important to take social distancing seriously and help flatten the curve. I plan to continue working each day on my research from home this week as well as planning the Passover Seders. I look forward to updating you about my life and adventures next week! If you have any questions/comments or concerns about the current covid-19 situation, let me know. If you need advice for dealing with a more isolated life or need someone to talk to, please reach out. Given all of your support, I’d love to provide you with my own.

In peace,
Jesse

March 22, 2020

Life in Quarantine: Week 8

Thank you so much for your interest in my life and experiences in Shanghai! As things have begin improving, I’ve looked back at all the loving and supportive messages I received. Thank you all so much! I want this blog to share as a message of hope to all of you that while the covid-19 situation is difficult and trying, things will improve. They may not improve as quickly as in China, but if you’ve been following the last 7 entries of my blog, you can see the arc of improvement. If you haven’t been following along with my blog, please check out these entries.

Life in Shanghai

Before I begin this week’s update, I want to offer words of support and encouragement to all of my readers. I hope that you and your families and friends are healthy and safe. I know how difficult self-quarantine and isolation can be. Although, the situation has drastically improved here in Shanghai, I know that many of you are now dealing with working from home and forced quarantine/isolation. As I’ve documented here, this has not been an easy time for me. However, I know you can and will make the best out of this difficult situation. So, I want to reassure all of you that things will get better, eventually life will return to normal. However, I also want to caution you that things may take longer to improve in the US and other countries than here in China. The Chinese government took drastic draconian actions to lock down the country and enforce social distancing and ban travel.

As I’ve documented here, in my opinion, my personal best advice is to make the best out of what is clearly a difficult situation, whether that’s cooking more, connecting with friends via skype or the telephone, or getting caught up on tv, make sure you take some time to relax and stay calm. As I did last week, I want to share some tips that I follow for how to best stay safe.

Social distancing is important. Avoid large crowds. This doesn’t mean you can’t go to the grocery store, but don’t go out to bars or go to places where there are large gatherings. Importantly, this means don’t travel, especially for leisure vacations! Now is not the time to go to airports or to go on vacation.
Wash your hands!!! Everyone must wash their hands for at least 20 seconds, particularly after being outside.
Continue to eat healthy and exercise. As I’ve done the last few weeks, you can go running or if you don’t run, do yoga or body weight exercises in your home.
Don’t isolate yourselves. Talk with your family and friends using FaceTime. Depending on where you are you may be able to get together with 1-2 people.
Don’t read the sensationalist news. Follow sensible news sources and listen to trained professionals, not the current administration. The Atlantic has been publishing a lot of really good and informative news articles.

I hope these tips alleviate some of the anxiety I know you are feeling. I’m nervous for you all and I remain nervous about the situation here. Despite the situation improving in Shanghai, as people return to China (from abroad), there have been many new imported cases here. If you want to know more about my experience or any of the precautions that I’ve taken, please reach out and ask. Given all the love and support I received from you all, I want to extend my support and help to you.

I do want to emphasize that I remain healthy and safe here in Shanghai. The situation in the city is definitely improving. The sentiment and energy in the city is improving. People are now out and about more than they have been, going to parks (picture was intentionally not crowded) and also even playing basketball! It’s been amazing seeing Shanghai reawaken, especially with the beginning of Spring.

In terms of the numbers, the number of new cases in Shanghai has unfortunately increased by a lot this week. However, nearly all of these have been imported cases, people who are sick (and asymptomatic) returning to Shanghai via airplanes. There are now 394 cases of covid-19 in Shanghai (70 more than last week). Currently of those, 63 are active. So, the recovery rate is currently at 83%. For China as a whole, the recovery rate is at ~ 89%. In Shanghai, many of these cases are new, so I believe that number will increase over time. However, I want to emphasize that of those 63 active cases 55 of them come from people traveling abroad (mostly Chinese nationals returning from the US and Europe). I implore all of you not to travel. The easiest way to spread this virus is to travel. Airports are crowded and many people don’t know that they’re sick because they’re asymptomatic. To alleviate the situation, upon arrival in Shanghai, as of 3/22/2020, people arriving from 24 of the most seriously affected countries (including the US) are required to do 14 days of self-quarantine, regardless of whether they are sick. Additionally, all arriving passengers are tested for covid-19. So, Shanghai is imposing strict limitations to help curtail the virus. While these actions may seem extreme, they are necessary.

On a more positive note, the government has lifted the order requiring residents to wear masks. However, the vast majority of people still are (myself included). I wear the mask mostly out of solidarity. I want to emphasize that wearing masks in East Asia is generally done when people are sick (with colds or the flu), so this idea exists within the culture. As discussed earlier, the mask may help halt the spread of the virus, but not prevent it. In addition, for the last few weeks, each time you enter a building, you have your temperature taken and get a squirt of hand sanitizer. Additionally, in Shanghai, every resident now has a personal QR code, through Alipay, that is updated as to whether you are healthy or not (based on government and hospital records). While this may seem like a lot, it’s really not bad and has become part of my day-to-day life. I hope that the US will consider taking these kinds of actions to keep people safe.

As I’ve done for the past two months, I’ve continued to work from home. I’m still making progress on my research even if I don’t have any noteworthy results this week. I’ve been working on my first DES project, finally making some small steps forward. I also finished a draft of my paper for another project that I’m working on. So, even though I’m working from home, I’ve still been productive. I know that all of you can be as well. 🙂 In terms of my research group, I’ve continued to have weekly meetings within the Zu Group. It’s been nice getting to hear and see some of the research that some of Prof. Ying Zu’s graduate students are working on. Additionally, for the past three weeks, SJTU has done Zoom colloquiums (which are in English). While it’s been very interesting hearing about the research, I find that it’s much easier for me to get distracted when the talk is on my computer. Also, during this week’s meeting, Ying mentioned that SJTU is talking about reopening, so maybe by mid-to-late April/May the University will reopen. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Chinese Academic Calendar, the semester goes until July.

As things have started to return to normal here, my life has continued to return closer to my old routines. I’m still able to get delicious and fresh vegetables and other foods. For this weeks cooking, I made tofu burgers and Cauliflower/white bean chowder. Additionally, It was very warm this week, in the mid-70s and even 80 (on Saturday). So, I went running 3 times! As many of you know, I love running, so having the opportunity to get outside (even wearing a mask) is something I treasure. During my runs and walks this week, I was surrounded by the natural beauty in many of the small parks that surround Shanghai. Shanghai is really beautiful in the Spring!

Additionally, I’ve continued to get together with small groups of friends. On Tuesday, I got together with my friends Hannah Maia and Casey for ice cream! Then on Friday, a group of us (mostly the regular Shabbat dinner crew) got together to enjoy a lovely Shabbat dinner.

On Sunday, I hung out with my friends Heather and Shimi for the afternoon. We got lunch and walked around the Huangpu and Xintiandi neighborhoods! One of the things that I’m most grateful for is the wonderful friendships that I’ve made during the covid-19 situation. I’m so glad that this situation brought us together. We got lunch at a food mall (in China, many malls have great restaurants, unlike in the US). Outside, there were decorations and advertisements reminiscent of some very familiar things! I was thrilled to see The Beatles and Snoopy!

In addition, during my walks this week, I saw a lot of other cool sculptures and artwork!

Food in Shanghai

I had two fantastic meals with friends this week! First there was Shabbat dinner on Friday!

We had a noodle dish, cauliflower, a vegetable curry, another noodle and bean sprout/veggie dish, tofu and eggplant (my favorite), a vegetable salad, and not pictured a delicious lentil dish and freshly baked naan bread.

On Sunday, I finally returned to a vegan restaurant for lunch! I love going to the vegan restaurants to try so many of the exciting and new dishes! As I’ve shown you before, the Chinese food is both similar and different to what you can get in the US. Some places, like Grasshopper in Boston are similar (except the portions are smaller here).

We had tofu skins, wheat gluten (a spongier version of seitan), eggplant (which melts in your mouth), kung pao seitan, and lion’s head mushrooms (which was great!). I look forward to sharing more vegan food with you all soon!

Jewish Life in Shanghai

As noted above, for Shabbat, I got together with friends to celebrate. In addition, Kehilat Shanghai and Kehilat Beijing are still doing Zoom Shabbat blessings and candle lightings. While now, I am mostly connecting with the Jewish community in person, I’m glad that the zoom candle lightings and interactions are continuing, especially since many community members are scattered around the globe. I’m happy to see that many other Jewish communities are doing Zoom services as well. A great way to stay connected during this time.

Additionally, this week, a group of Kehilat Shanghai board members met to plan our celebration of Passover. We’re excited that things have improved so that we are able to gather together for a community seder. I’m also going to be helping to lead and organize the Seder, so this won’t be the last mention of Passover here. While I know it’s a few weeks away, I hope that everyone who observes Passover is able to celebrate in a way they find meaningful.

As we’ve now reached 2 months of semi-self-imposed quarantine, I’m glad that I’m able to make the most out of my new normal lifestyle. So far, things continue to improve here and hopefully that trend persists and spreads throughout the world. Remember everyone can do something to help flatten the curve.

I hope that this update about the covid-19 situation in Shanghai and how I’ve dealt with it and continue to deal with it provides comfort and assurance that things will get better. Take social distancing seriously, it’s the best way to slow the spread of covid-19. I plan to continue working each day on my research from home this week. I look forward to updating you about my life and adventures next week! If you have any questions/comments or concerns about Shanghai or the current situation, let me know! If you need advice for dealing with a more isolated life, please reach out. Given all the support I’ve received from you, I’d love to provide the same.

In peace,
Jesse

March 15, 2020

Life in Quarantine: Week 7

Thank you so much for your interest in my life and experiences in Shanghai! I’m incredibly thankful for all of the messages I’ve received asking how I’m holding up during the coronavirus epidemic. If you haven’t seen my prior six posts, which discuss the current situation in Shanghai and China and how I’ve dealt with it, please check them out.

If you enjoy my blog, subscribe and let me know! To subscribe, enter your name and e-mail on the right side of the page. Once subscribed, you’ll receive an e-mail with each new post. If you have any questions about Shanghai or the current situation, don’t hesitate to ask. Instructions are on the “To Comment” page. Also, if you know anyone who needs reassurance that things will get better in the rest of the world as they have in Shanghai and China, please share this with them.

Life in Shanghai

To start this week’s entry, I want to begin by saying that I hope that all of you are doing well. I hope that your families and friends are all healthy and safe. Throughout the course of this past week, the tables have entirely turned. The situation is dramatically better here in China after 2 months of lockdown, while the situation in the US and the rest of the world, Italy in particular, has gotten worse. So, I want to reassure all of you that things will get better, eventually life will return to normal, even if that normal isn’t for a few months. More importantly, as I’ve documented here, in my opinion, the best approach is to turn lemons into lemonade and try to make the best out of what is clearly a difficult and anxiety inducing situation.

Based on my experiences in Shanghai, here are some tips, I recommend:

Social distancing is important. Most importantly avoid large crowds. The reports that crowds under 1000 people are safe are utterly ridiculous. I would attempt to avoid crowds in general. This doesn’t mean you should lock yourself in, rather that you should avoid situations where you know there are large groups of people.
Wash your hands!!! It’s paramount that everyone continue to wash their hands for at least 20 seconds, particularly after you’ve been outside. If possible, you can use hand sanitizer as well.
Continue to eat healthy and exercise. Whether that’s going running or doing exercises in your home, it’s important to maintain healthy practices.
Don’t completely isolate yourselves. For me, many of the highlights of my weeks have been using FaceTime with my family or getting together with one or two friends for coffee. So, even though you should avoid crowds, if you are still healthy, you can definitely get together in small groups (<10).
Don’t read the sensationalist news. Follow sensible news sources and listen to actual trained professionals, not the. current administration.

I hope that these tips are helpful and can alleviate some of the nervousness and anxiety that I know you are feeling. I’m nervous for you all as I was and still remain for myself. I’m happy to offer my support to any of you reading this. If you need to know more about my experience or want to discuss any precautions I’ve taken, please reach out to me. Now that things are improving in China, I’m happy to offer any help and support that I can.

As I’ve said, things are definitely improving here in Shanghai. I continue to be healthy, safe, and happy! I again want to thank all of you who have continued to reach out and ask about how I’m doing. I’m incredibly appreciative of your messages and it comforts me to know that so many of you care about me.

In terms of Shanghai, the situation is greatly improving. In the past week, there have only been imported cases of the coronavirus to Shanghai. These are from people returning from either Italy, the United States, Iran, France, or Spain. China is now far more concerned about imported cases on the coronavirus. Currently, Shanghai has instituted a policy that anyone coming from Italy, the US, Iran, South Korea, Japan, France, Germany and Spain have to spend 14 days in self-quarantine upon arrival to Shanghai. In total there are currently 353 cases in Shanghai. Of those 324 have already recovered. A recovery rate of ~ 92%. For China, the recovery rate is at 83%. So, while I’m sure many of you are nervous about the number of new cases in the US, I believe that the recovery rate should be high outside of China as well.

In terms of my day-to-day life, things are also starting to return to normal. The majority of shops and restaurants are now back open for business. However we still have to. take our temperature when we enter. Additionally, some of the museums and parks are starting to open up again! Although, there are some restrictions being placed on the number of people allowed in at one time. Overall, it’s been great to see Shanghai beginning to revive and revitalize! Additionally, I’m still able to get groceries delivered. Most importantly, I’m able to run again! I went running on Wednesday and with temperatures warming to the 70s this week, I plan to go running at least 2-3 times!

For those of you wondering, SJTU, where I work, remains closed. You currently need to ask for permission to enter the campus. However, there is discussion that by mid April, the university will reopen. In terms of work, this week, we had the DESI (Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument) collaboration meeting on Zoom. Unfortunately for me, the meeting was set up to operate on Pacific Standard Time, so many of the talks were while I was asleep. However, I did listen to some very interesting talks about the cluster science that will be done with DESI. Additionally, I also had a DES clusters telecon. So, there was a lot of late night science on my part. In addition to that I had my now weekly telecons within the Zu group. In terms of research progress, I’m still working on the DES results. However, I’ve also gone back to writing as I’m in the process of revising two of my papers. I’m hoping to have those papers finished up and submitted for publication later this spring.

As I mentioned, things are definitely returning to normal here, which was best highlighted by some of the fun things I did this week. On Friday, a group of my friends from Moishe House got together for a Shabbat dinner. Then on Sunday, I got together with my friend Shimi and we visited the Jing’an Sculpture park. I previously visited the Jigan’an sculpture in the winter (https://astronomerinshanghai.com/uncategorized/vegan-hot-pot-and-the-shanghai-natural-history-museum/), so I was amazed to see the park covered in gorgeous flowers! Special thanks to Shimi for some of these amazing photos!

One of my favorite parts was that in the midst of the flower beds were statues. The ones of the giant bulls reminded me of the children’s story Ferdinand the Bull!

There were also some other very cool statues as well!

There was also beautiful. Cherry blossom trees! So, as you can see, as the impact of the virus is lessening, spring is here in Shanghai.

Additionally, thanks to Shimi, you can. see a ton of photos of me (both with and without a mask)!

We also even saw some cats in the park!

Food in Shanghai

For the first time in Shanghai I got vegan deserts! On Tuesday, Cinnamon Loafers, a pop-up vegan/gluten free bakery that I learned about via the vegans in Shanghai WeChat group was having a sale. So, I got a red velvet brownie, a birthday cake brownie, a rice crispie treat, and 2 zucchini chocolate chip cookies! All Vegan! This made me very happy!

On Friday, I went to an Indian restaurant for Shabbat and had another delicious meal. Unsurprisingly, the Indian food in China is really good!

Then on Sunday, Shimi and I got Falafel! Falafel in Shanghai is surprisingly good!

Jewish Life in Shanghai

As many of you know, this past week was Purim. To celebrate, Kehilat Shanghai did some virtual Zoom activities. Additionally, we’ve continued to have Zoom Shabbat. However, the Shabbat highlight this week was getting to join Temple Sinai (in Saratoga) for their Zoom Friday night Shabbat service (or Saturday morning for me).

Additionally, to celebrate Purim, Moishe House hosted a Purim Party! Special thanks to my friends Hannah Maia and Shimi for organizing a fun party, which also highlighted that life here is returning to normal (and for those of you in the US, it will return. to normal as well). Also, Hannah Maia made delicious raspberry, chocolate, and poppy seed filled hamentaschen!

For those of you wondering, I went as a hippie. Also, if any of you are observant, that is in fact the t-shirt that my brother and I gave out to people who attended our B’nai mitzvah!

Despite a 7th week of semi-self-imposed quarantine, this was an enjoyable, fun, and productive week. Things continue improving here. Hopefully that trend will continue and in a few weeks, that will begin to happen in the US.

I hope that this update about the coronavirus situation in Shanghai and how I am staying positive and dealing with situation is comforting and can provide reassurance that things will get better. Hopefully people will take social distancing seriously and the spread of the coronavirus will slow. I plan to continue working each day on my research from home as SJTU still remains closed. I look forward to updating you all about my life and adventures next week! If you have any questions/comments or concerns about Shanghai or my safety, let me know! Also, if you need advice for dealing with a more isolated life, don’t hesitate to reach out.

In peace,
Jesse

March 8, 2020

Life in Quarantine: Week 6

Thank you so much for your interest in my life in Shanghai! I’m incredibly thankful for all of the messages I’ve received this past week asking how I’m holding up during the coronavirus epidemic. If you haven’t seen my prior five posts, which discuss the current situation in Shanghai and China, please check them out.

If you enjoy my blog, subscribe to let me know! To subscribe, enter your name and e-mail on the right side of the page. Once subscribed, you’ll receive an e-mail with each new post. If you have any questions about Shanghai or the current situation, don’t hesitate to ask. Instructions are on the “To Comment” page. Also, if you know anyone who is concerned about me, please share this blog with them.

Life in Shanghai

To start this week’s entry, I want to emphasize that I remain healthy, safe, and happy here in Shanghai. I also want to thank everyone who has reached out to check in with me either via this blog, e-mail, facebook, or through my parents. Overall the situation is improving here; However, that’s unfortunately not the case everywhere else in the world. So, I hope that all of you are also staying safe and healthy. Hopefully things will begin to improve worldwide soon, just as they have here in China.

In Shanghai, there are now 342 total cases. That’s 5 new cases this week. However, 4 of those cases were from Chinese nationals who returned from Iran. Many people have continued to recover from the virus here. So, of those 342 cases, 314 have recovered, a recovery rate of ~ 92%. As I noted last week, this number will continue to rise both here and abroad in the coming weeks. So, despite there being a few more cases this week, the situation is definitely improving here in Shanghai! Clearly the policies and practices taken by the Shanghai Municipal government have worked well.

In terms of the rest of China, the number of new cases each day has been dwindling. Of the ~80,800 cases, ~57,100 have already recovered. The recovery rate is thus ~71%. However, outside of Hubei province, the recovery rate is higher. So, after about 6-7 weeks here in China, the situation is dramatically improving. However, now, the biggest fear in China is not the spread of the virus among the people already in China, it’s now that people coming from outside of China, particularly Italy, South Korea, and Iran, will bring the virus back to China. To that end, at both international airports in Shanghai, any travelers arriving from those countries are taken to a quarantine zone and then returned home, where they must spend at least 14 days in mandatory self-quarantine. Given the policies in place already, it’s unsurprising that the government has swiftly implemented these additional policies.

While the situation has greatly improved here, unfortunately, the situation is growing worse throughout the world, particularly in Italy, Iran, and South Korea. While the numbers are not nearly as high as in China, the number of new cases continue to grow. Additionally, given that the coronavirus has spread to many parts of the US as well, I implore all you to follow some of the health recommendations I made last week. Most importantly, make sure to wash your hands (for at least 20 seconds) every time you’ve gone outside. Hopefully the situation will improve soon and a cure will be discovered.

In terms of life here in Shanghai, we’ve reached something of a new normal. While it’s not nearly as crowded outside as it was before the outbreak, every time I go outside, I see many people (the majority of which wear masks). Almost all businesses and restaurants are now back up and running (at some capacity). The only difference is that when you enter buildings, a security guard takes your temperature and many places provide hand sanitizer. So, life is definitely returning to Shanghai, albeit somewhat slowly. Hopefully, as spring comes here, life will return to normal. Thankfully, there’s been no food shortages here in Shanghai. I’m still able to get all the groceries that I need to eat healthy delivered to my apartment. This week, I made chickpea walnut burgers and a vegan version of my Mom’s butterscotch brownies (my family’s blondie recipe)!

As I’ve now spent 6 weeks working from home, I’ve found a good work/research routine in my apartment. While I’m probably not quite as efficient every day as I would be in the office, I am more comfortable working in my apartment and am able to make lots of progress. This week, I’ve made excellent progress on my DES research. I’m just running the final redshift evolution analyses now. More importantly, despite my previously noted bug, the majority of results I had detected remain sound and my science and results are robust! This week, I plan to diversify a bit in my work as I start to work on some of my other projects as well. Additionally, I’ve had a bunch of zoom/skype meetings. I attended a DESI telecon as well as our now weekly Zu group meeting. While meeting over zoom/skype/Gchat isn’t ideal, I’m really glad these options exist. While I don’t mind e-mail, sometimes it’s easier to discuss things.

With things returning to new normal in Shanghai, I was able to do a few more fun things this week! Many of my friends who were abroad have since returned to Shanghai! So, on Wednesday, I got dinner with some of my friends, including my group of friends who I’ve been seeing weekly. Then on Friday, our weekly Shabbat Dinner was expanded to include members of the Moishe House community who have returned to Shanghai!

As you can see, there’s a lot of us now back in Shanghai! As I’ve noted here before, when you go so long without seeing people on a frequent basis, it makes these kind of opportunities not only more fun, but also much more special because they provide a return to normalcy.

However, for me, the most important thing that happened this week was that I decided it was finally safe for me to go running! In the last week, I’ve seen a lot of people (both Chinese and ex-pats) on the street running. So, I decided if it was safe for them, it was safe for me. As many of you know, I’m an avid runner and in an ideal world, I run at least once per week. Prior to my run on Saturday, I hadn’t gone running in about 6 weeks, the longest such break in over 2 years. Despite the improvements here in Shanghai, I did take precautions and wore a medical mask while running. I also made sure to avoid people and keep a good distance from others. During my run up to People’s Square, I saw 3-4 other people running around the city.

Thankfully I was moving fast enough that my glasses only fogged up when I was stopped at intersections. While my legs are a little stiff/sore today, that’s a good feeling after not running for so long. Assuming things continue to improve I’ll continue to go running, especially as the temperature warms up.

Also, spring is definitely here in Shanghai!

Food in Shanghai

I had two wonderful meals out with friends this past week. Thankfully, every time I go out, my friends are always willing to accommodate and order lots of vegetarian food! On Wednesday, we went to a Pakistani/Turkish restaurant. This restaurant had some of the most beautifully presented food that I had ever seen. More importantly, though, it was delicious!

While I’d love to tell you what everything was, for the most part, I only remember that I was eating vegetables! However, I will say that my favorite was the lentil dal (lower row, center)! That dish reminded me of the dal makhani from Little India in Saratoga!

On Friday, we returned to Sichuan Citizen for our now weekly Shabbat dinner! Below you can see the full group spread.

Here are some zoomed in images of the vegetarian dishes! As usual, my personal favorite are the sesame noodles! However, the spicy sword (green) beans were also delicious!

Jewish Life in Shanghai

As was the case for the past few weeks, many of the Jewish interactions are done via Zoom. Kehilat Beijing and Kehilat Shanghai cohosted our now weekly zoom Shabbat. However, this week, Moishe House sponsored and hosted our Shabbat dinner! While it’s been wonderful getting dinner with my smaller group of friends, all of which I’ve become much closer with, it was really nice to get together with a larger group and feel like a normal Jewish community! Below you can see some photos of us lighting the candles and saying the blessings.

Special thanks to my friend Shimi for taking the non-food photos that you see here (especially the ones that I’m in). 🙂

Despite a 6th week of semi-self-imposed quarantine, this was an enjoyable and productive week. It was very nice to see so many of my friends, some of whom I hadn’t seen in almost 2 months! Things are definitely improving here, so hopefully that trend will continue.

I hope that this update about the coronavirus situation in Shanghai and how I am staying positive and dealing with situation is comforting. Hopefully the spread of the coronavirus will slow elsewhere as it has here and a cure will soon be discovered. I plan to continue working each day on my research from home. I look forward to updating you all about my life and adventures next week! If you have any questions/comments or concerns about Shanghai or my safety, let me know!

In peace,
Jesse

March 1, 2020

Life in Quarantine: Week 5

Thank you so much for following along with my life and adventures in Shanghai! As I’ve said in each of the last few posts, I’m incredibly thankful for all of the messages I’ve received asking how I’m holding up during the coronavirus epidemic. If you haven’t seen my prior four posts, which discuss the current situation in Shanghai and China, please take a look at them.

If you enjoy my blog, please subscribe and let me know! To subscribe, enter your name and e-mail on the right side of the page. Once subscribed, you’ll receive an e-mail with each new post. If you have any questions about Shanghai, please ask. Instructions are on the “To Comment” page. Also, if you know anyone who is concerned about me or the coronavirus situation, please share this blog with them.

Life in Shanghai

To start, I want to emphasize that I remain healthy, safe, and happy here in Shanghai! As I’ve done each of the past few posts, I want to take the time to thank all of you who have reached out to me or to my parents to check in and see how I’m doing. I really appreciate knowing that so many of you are concerned about me and are thinking of me during this difficult experience.

To begin this post, I want to update you all on the current situation in Shanghai. In the past week, there were just 2 new cases of the coronavirus here in Shanghai. The total for the city is 337, with 3 fatalities. Clearly, the policies put in place by the Shanghai municipal government are working and helping to slow (or halt) the spread of the virus. Moreover, of those 337 people, only 44 are still currently infected. Thus, in Shanghai, the recovery rate is currently sitting at about 87%, which is excellent. Each day more people are recovering, so hopefully that number will rise in the coming weeks.

Given these improved numbers, you’re likely wondering whether life is changing in Shanghai. For the most part, it hasn’t changed much. I’m still working from home (as are many others). The lane neighborhood where I live still locks the gate (although it is kept open and unlocked for a few hours each day). Schools remain closed. For elementary, middle, and high schools, this will remain the case until the virus is nearly defeated. However, for SJTU, where I work, the main concern is not the situation in Shanghai, but rather requiring students to travel from all over China to return to Shanghai. One change is that the number of businesses open is rapidly increasing. When I went to get fruit Sunday afternoon, I noticed that many of the smaller restaurants and shops on the street that I live on are now open (they were not earlier this week). So, life is returning to some semblance of normalcy, which is great!

While the situation has dramatically improved in Shanghai, what about the rest of China. In Beijing, there are 413 cases, with 274 recovered and 8 deaths. While I won’t list the numbers for every major city, in total, there are about 80,000 cases in mainland China, and of those ~ 42,000 have recovered. However, if you exclude Wuhan/Hubei province, the recovery rate is at ~ 71%, which is in much better agreement with the numbers seen in Shanghai.

Sadly, the coronavirus outbreak has continued to spread rapidly throughout the world. The most troubling cases appear to be in South Korea (where the number continues to rapidly increase daily), Italy (where the number is rising, but less rapidly), Japan (mostly a result of the Diamond Princess cruise, but interestingly, the number of cases reported each day is small), and Iran. So, while the situation is improving in China, it’s important to remember that this virus is impacting the globe. I also think that it’s important to recognize that the actions taken by the Chinese government, such as essentially quarantining Wuhan, shutting down work, keeping people at home, and putting restrictions of people gathering have worked very well. Sadly, many of these actions would be very difficult to enforce in non-authoritarian countries.

Since I’m sure many of my readers are beginning to be concerned about the coronavirus, here are some tips that I would recommend for the coronavirus. Please note, these are just tips that I follow myself, not a guaranteed way not to get sick.

1. Wash your hands after you’ve gone outside. Make sure to follow the CDC recommendations and wash them thoroughly for ~ 20 seconds.
2. Wear gloves when you are in public spaces. Also, try to avoid touching your face with those gloves when you are outside. This is difficult.
3. Have hand sanitizer and either use that or soap when cleaning your hands. Keep this in your home/office.
4. Consider getting masks. While masks are required/recommended in China. The masks themselves are only somewhat helpful. As I’ve discussed on this blog before, wearing a mask doesn’t guarantee not getting sick. If your able to get masks, I would recommend it. However, outside of possibly on airplanes, you currently do not need to wear masks in the USA. Moreover, it’s more important when outside to just avoid people then it is to wear masks
5. Don’t panic. It’s perfectly okay to be nervous or scared about the situation. I know I am. However, you also shouldn’t do the opposite. So, I strongly recommend not listening to the current President of the US and his rhetoric claiming that everything is fine and the US is doing a great job. While many researchers and scientists around the world (not just in the US) are working at breakneck speed to solve this crisis, a cure is still likely at least a year away. So, there’s no need for false machismo when it comes to your individual safety.

Now back to updating you about the rest of my life. I’ve continued to work from home for now a 5th week. I’m still grateful that I’m able to be productive, but there are times when it’d be more efficient to chat in person, instead of just over zoom. Sharing my screen works, but can sometimes be slow. In terms of research progress, I’ve finally gotten the first figure matched for my Luminosity Function analysis. It’s really nice to finally make a bit of progress on that project. In terms of my Stellar Mass – Halo Mass relation DES work, with the help of my Ph.D. advisor, Prof. Chris Miller, I’ve determined the best step forward based on a comparison between the SDSS and DES photometry. I’m currently in the process of rerunning much of that analysis. However, since I already have all the necessary infrastructure, those results should be done by the time I write my next post! 🙂

My life continues to be consumed by many zoom meetings. The SJTU postdocs chave a daily zoom meeting to chat and discuss recent figures. Additionally on Wednesday the Zu group had another group meeting. I also had an additional telecon with my boss/mentor on Thursday as well as a DESI telecon on Tuesday. So, even though I’m not able to see people, I am able to connect and keep collaborators updated about my progress.

One nice thing about this past week was that on Monday and Tuesday, it was incredibly warm. Almost 80 degrees! So, on both days, I went out (with my mask) for a nice hour long walk. Since it was so warm both days, I treated myself to raspberry sorbet and a tropical fruit smoothie!

Currently, I’m still able to easily get all of the food and groceries I need. It’s incredibly convenient that I’m able to order groceries online. This week I made Moroccan red lentil soup as well as farmesan (vegan parmesan cheese)! So, I have plenty of healthy and delicious food to eat. Additionally, I ordered a jump rope, so I have expanded my exercise routine beyond pushups, crunches and jumping jacks! 🙂

Like last week, I got Shabbat dinner on Friday with my same group of friends! It was really nice to see everyone in person! It’s comforting hearing everyone’s plans and what they are doing. Especially since many of my friends have lived in Shanghai/China far longer than I have. Overall, It’s been a great way to keep my spirits up.

I’m really happy that I have so many friends here who are willing and able to go out and get together! Also, as an additional sign that things are improving, a few more of my friends have either just returned or will be returning next week to Shanghai! So, maybe these weekly dinners will start to grow a bit over the next couple of weeks!

One additional highlight from my walks this week! This was too cute and funny for me not to take a picture of!

Food in Shanghai

For our now weekly dinner, we returned to the same Sichuan restaurant! The food, just like last week was very enjoyable. However, I do hope that as things return to normal, I’ll be able to venture out and explore new vegan/vegetarian restaurants as well, soon!

For this weeks meal, we had vegetarian ma po tofu, eggplant, sesame noodles, potato shreds, and tofu with celery and peppers! I again loved the sesame noodles, but I also really enjoyed the tofu with celery!

Thanks to my friend Heather, I know break the fourth wall. Here’s a photo of me taking the above picture!

Jewish Life in Shanghai

Like last week, this week, we had our now weekly Zoom Shabbat’s. It is really nice seeing and hearing from so many members of Kehilat Shanghai and Kehilat Beijing. Both within my friend group and within the larger Jewish community, it’s been wonderful to see everyone come together and be supportive of one another

Thanks to my friends Heather and Shimi, you can see what it looks like at dinner when everyone is plugged into there phones trying to follow along with the Zoom Shabbat while also being at a restaurant! It is really funny when someone at our table is talking on the Zoom telecon and you hear the words echoed by the telecon! 🙂

Additionally, this week, Moishe House hosted a Zoom Havdalah! So, I got to mark the beginning and end of Shabbat with fellow members of the Jewish community! While I’m grateful that all of these events happen, I’m looking forward to when we can all gather together in person to celebrate Shabbat!

Despite another week of semi-self-imposed quarantine, this was an enjoyable and productive week.

I hope that this update about the coronavirus situation in Shanghai and how I am coping reassures you about my health and safety. I also hope that my advice is helpful and doesn’t cause you any to become worried about your own health and safety. Staying calm and maintaining your own mental health is important as well. Hopefully the spread of the coronavirus will slow and a cure will soon be discovered soon. I plan to continue to work productively on my research this week. I look forward to updating you all about my life and adventures next week! If you have any questions/comments or concerns about Shanghai or my safety, let me know!

In peace,
Jesse

February 23, 2020

Life in Quarantine: Week 4

Thank you so much for following my life and adventures in Shanghai! I’ve really appreciated all of your messages asking how I’m managing and holding up during the coronavirus epidemic. If you haven’t seen my prior three posts, which discuss the current situation in Shanghai and China, please take a look at them.

If you enjoy this blog, please subscribe and let me know that you’re following! To subscribe, enter your name and e-mail on the right side of the page. Once subscribed, you’ll receive an e-mail with each new post. If you have any questions about Shanghai, please let me know. Instructions are on the “To Comment” page. Also, if you know anyone who is concerned about me and the situation in China, please share this blog with them.

Life in Shanghai

I want to start this post by again thanking all of you who have reached out to message me by e-mail or through the blog to ask how I am doing and holding up. I really appreciate hearing from so many of you. Your messages remind me how many people care about me and help to lift my spirits. Before I update you about my life here, I want to once again reassure you that I am happy, I am healthy, and I am safe.

To start this entry, I’d like to update you all about the coronavirus situation here in Shanghai. As of this post (2/23), there have only been 335 cases in Shanghai. That means there were only 7 new cases since my last post! This is an excellent sign that in Shanghai, many of the measures taken by the Shanghai Municipal government are working! More importantly, of those 335, 249 have already recovered! Sadly, 3 people have died. So, here in Shanghai, the virus appears to be winding down. Additionally, there were no new cases in the Huangpu district, where I live (only 6 total).

Despite the improvements, there are still many safety restrictions in place. It’s still required to wear masks every time you go outside. Also, in my little lane neighborhood, we now lock the front gate (which was never locked before). Thankfully I have a key. :). Additionally, in most neighborhoods and buildings, guests are not allowed. Unsurprisingly, stores and malls require people to take there temperature (now on the wrist instead of the forehead) prior to entering. However, I did find it funny that when I entered the nearby mall to pick up some groceries, I had my temperature checked both when I entered the mall and then a few minutes later when I entered the grocery store! I guess you can never be too careful. 🙂

In terms of China as a whole, the number of new cases continues to grow. However, the vast majority of these cases are in Wuhan and Hubei province. Overall, the number of new cases per day has been generally declining, and has been on this trend for about the last 10 days. Moreover, Since the 18th, there have been more recovered patients in China than new cases. Hopefully this is a sign that the quarantines and rigorous travel restrictions put in place by the Chinese government are working. Additionally, one number that I constantly see in US news articles is that the fatality rate is ~ 2%. I want to emphasize that this is likely an upper limit. First, it’s likely that (especially in Wuhan) there are cases that are undiagnosed. Second, if you remove Wuhan and Hubei, then the fatality rate is only 0.76%. So, outside Wuhan, the numbers are drastically different. Sadly, outside of China, the number of cases is growing, particularly in South Korea. So, while things appear to be improving here in China (or at least moving in the right direction), I’m still hoping and praying that a cure will be discovered soon.

At this point, I’m sure it surprises none of you that I spent the majority of the week working from my apartment. I continue to be grateful that I’m able to do so much of my Astronomy research on my laptop. In terms of research, I’m predominately working on my DES project. As I noted last week, I found a bug in that analysis that I have since fixed. While I was able to fix my mistake, this mistake has actually been somewhat of a scientific blessing, since the corrected measurements have allowed for a lot of new scientific inquiries that will undoubtedly strengthen the analysis of this work while also illustrating the robustness of my scientific results. Additionally, I began work on my Luminosity function analysis again and am quite close to matching the first of two figures I am aiming to recreate. So, overall, this was a productive week. I’m aiming to keep this up for the weeks to come.

Additionally, on Wednesday, the Zu research group had our first Zoom meeting! It was great seeing and hearing from my boss/mentor, Ying, as well as some of his graduate students. Many of the students are spread out throughout China and not in Shanghai. One of the students was in a very rural part of China and we could hear a rooster crowing the entire time he was talking! 🙂 Despite being separated, it was nice to reconnect with some of the other people that I work with and am used to seeing on a daily basis. Additionally, Prof. Zu informed me that SJTU will be beginning online classes this week. This is a precaution that they are taking because they don’t want to delay the start of the semester indefinitely and end up with the semester running through the hottest part of the summer.

In terms of the rest of my life, I’m still able to get wonderful and fresh produce and food from Kate and Kimi. So, for this weeks cooking, I made black bean burgers. Additionally, I’m continuing to have plenty of time to read books and comic books as well as get caught up on all my many podcasts. I’ve also been able to watch plenty of TV (though on my computer) and listen to music. So, I’m at least able to entertain myself . 🙂

I did make some time for fun activities this week! On Friday, I joined my friends Shimi, Heather, Yael, and Barbara for dinner (I’ll discuss the food later). It was great seeing everyone in person and I had a wonderful time chatting and hearing about how everyone has been. Also, the restaurant was packed, so it was really nice to see many people out and about.

The last few days have been incredibly nice (in terms of temperature and air pollution levels), so on Sunday, I joined Heather and Shimi for a bike ride around Xintiandi, the French Concession, and Jing’an (about 3km). I haven’t really done any biking in Shanghai before, but even biking while wearing a mask, it was a fun way to get to see so much of my new home city!

One thing I noticed was that unlike a few weeks ago, there were a lot of people out and about. Many people were going for walks or getting food or walking there dogs. It is nice to see that some of the life has returned to Shanghai. Below are some highlights from my outing!

And yes, for those of you wondering, sometimes my beard prevents the masks from fitting as tightly as desired, especially when I smile, but I’m able to tighten and readjust the mask so that it works functionally.

We also stopped for ice cream after our bike ride! I got blueberry!

After out bike ride, we met up with Yael and her adorable dog Shoshi. Overall, this was a fun day and it was great fun to see so many of my friends! It’s days like these that help to make the current quarantine situation tolerable.

Food in Shanghai

On Friday, we went to a Sichuan restaurant for dinner. Sichuan food is generally spicier than food in Shanghai style. Thanks to help from my friends, we were able to get a ton of yummy vegetarian dishes!

We got an eggplant dish, spicy vegetarian ma po tofu, cabbage, cucumber, potato shreds, and my personal favorite sesame noodles! Other than the numbingly spicy ma po tofu, the rest of the food wasn’t too spicy and it was all great!

Jewish Life in Shanghai

When we were at dinner this week, all five of us joined the now weekly Zoom Shabbat, this week hosted by Kehilat Beijing! While it was funny to have all of us sitting around a table staring at our phones, it was really nice to feel a part of the broader Jewish community both here in Shanghai and in China! While these zoom events are nice and a lovely way to connect with members of the community, hopefully, we’ll be able to have some in person events soon as well.

Despite another week of continued semi-self-imposed quarantine, this was a good productive week. It’s very comforting seeing friends and colleagues both in person and through Zoom.

I hope that this update about the coronavirus epidemic and how I am coping has reassured you about my health and safety. Hopefully a cure will be discovered for the coronavirus soon and the spread will continue to slow or even cease. I plan to make this another productive research week as well as take advantage of the nice weather the next few days (going for walks). I look forward to updating you all about my life and adventures next week! If you have any questions/comments or concerns about Shanghai or my safety, let me know!

In peace,
Jesse

February 16, 2020

Life in Quarantine: Week 3

Thank you so much for following my life in Shanghai! I’ve really appreciate hearing from so many of you asking how I’m managing and holding up during the coronavirus epidemic. .

If you haven’t, please subscribe and let me know that you’re following! To subscribe, enter your name and e-mail on the right side of the page. Once subscribed, you’ll receive an e-mail with each new post. If you have any questions about Shanghai, let me know. Instructions are on the “To Comment” page. Also, if you know anyone who is concerned about me and the situation in China, please share this blog with them.

Life in Shanghai

To all of you who have either reached out to me via the blog, by e-mail, or by talking to my parents, thank you so much! I can’t begin to explain how supported it makes me feel to know that so many people care about me and are putting me and all those impacted by the coronavirus epidemic in their thoughts and prayers. As I’ve said in each of my last two posts, I continue to be safe and I more importantly continue to be healthy. If you haven’t read my previous two posts detailing the situation, please do.

As I’m sure many of you suspect, I’ve spent much of the past week inside my apartment. I’ve only left to walk to the nearby grocery store to get essentials, go to the fruit store, get more face masks, and take out the trash. Each time I’ve gone out, I wear a facemask, which takes away much of the enjoyment of being outside. At this point, I’m a little tired of spending so much time in my apartment. However, thankfully, I have a big apartment that I can move around in and am not confined to one room. I’m very glad I didn’t listen to some of my fellow postdocs and get a 1 room apartment.

Shanghai has instituted new safety measures. First, access to apartment complexes and lane neighborhoods (I live in a lane neighborhood) are restricted. Delivery people have to leave the items at the front gate with the security guard or in my case a member of the neighborhood committee. Additionally, all visitors (if they’re allowed in) must sign in and provide their name, cellphone number, and passport/ID number. At the mall where the grocery store is located, they take your temperature and provide you with hand sanitizer as you enter. Additionally, people returning from outside Shanghai must spend 14 days at home in quarantine before returning to work.

Shanghai is clearly taking every preventative measure to restrict the spread of the virus. For the most part, this seems to be working in Shanghai. When I last posted, there about 290 cases. Since then, the number is up to 330 in Shanghai. So, it appears to be slowing, which is good. Additionally, the Huangpu district, where I live only has 6 cases. This information has gone a long way to making me feel safe in my neighborhood. Although, I continue to hope and pray particularly for those in the Hubei province (where Wuhan is located) that a cure will be discovered soon.

On Tuesday, I went to pick up more masks. These masks were provided by David Shields, an Israeli Health Insurance company that provided free masks to all Israeli’s and members of the Jewish community in Shanghai. This was an incredibly generous donation. So, I want to again extend my gratitude to David Shields and the Israeli Consulate, as well as my friend Yael, for organizing the effort. Each community member received 20 disposable masks. While I don’t need them at this time, I’m glad that I have a safety net. Through this action and those I’ve read about in the news, It’s been heartwarming to see members of the world community come together to donate emergency medical supplies to the people in China. It’s times like this that I hope remind the world that we must come together as a global community and not be divided by national, political, or racial lines.

Like last week, I have spent a ton of time doing research. I’m incredibly grateful that I can do so much work on my personal laptop. In terms of research progress, I unfortunately discovered a bug in my scientific analysis, which led to a minor meltdown on my part. However, thanks to reassurance and support from my Ph.D. advisor, Prof. Chis Miller, I was able to refocus and get back to work. Thankfully, that error has been fixed and has so far not impacted my results. I’m in the process of redoing the remaining analysis, but in general am confident in the robustness of my scientific results. 🙂 Once these results are rerun, I’ll continue to work on finalizing the two papers that I have in progress. I also stayed up late and attended the most recent DES cluster telecon (which was a 1am China time). It was nice to reconnect with the DES cluster group, since I’m often unable to attend such late meetings. At SJTU, we’ve also continued our daily zoom telecon’s to talk about interesting scientific plots. Even though we haven’t talked in person, it’s great to hear from my colleagues and know that we are all safe.

In terms of the rest of my life, groceries are still being delivered. So, I did a lot of cooking this weekend. I made delicious vegan brownies as well as vegan hot and sour soup with bok choy, shiitake mushrooms, and tofu! I have plenty of good and healthy food to eat. I’ve continued to read a lot of comic books as well. I also finished my friend Joseph Kaifala’s autobiography Adamalui: A Survivor’s Journey from Civil Wars in Africa to Life in America. I know many of my readers are members of the Skidmore community who fondly remember Joseph from his time at Skidmore. If you haven’t read his autobiography, I highly encourage it. It’s a powerful read and provides a unique insight into the political situation in Sierra Leone and the surrounding countries during the mid 1990’s – 2000’s.

In terms of fun activities, after picking up my masks on Tuesday, I got lunch with my friends Shimi and Heather and then spent the afternoon working alongside them at a local coffee shop. Even though we were all doing our own work, it was so much nicer to see other people working than it has been being isolated and working from home. So, as you can likely surmise, some places, mostly restaurants, coffee shops, and grocery stores, remain open, although none of them are very crowded. Additionally, I’ve continued to do pushups, crunches, and jumping jacks for exercise. However, at this point though, I really miss running.

I do want to note that I did not go on any walks this weekend. There was a walk on Sunday, but it was quite cold, in the upper 30s, the coldest it’s been here, so I wanted to stay inside. However, warmer weather (60s) will return later this week.

Despite the little time that I spent outside, I remain amazed by all the beautiful sights in Shanghai!

However, my personal favorite was Pandas depicted doing The Last Supper!

Food in Shanghai

On Tuesday, I got lunch with my friends Shimi and Heather at an Indian restaurant We got a spinach and paneer dish, a vegetable curry, and an eggplant and potato dish.

Unlike with the Chinese food, which is infinitely better in Shanghai, the Indian food from Little India (in Saratoga) is quite similar to the Indian food I can get here.

Jewish Life in Shanghai

While there were no in person Jewish events this week, on Shabbat, we did a virtual zoom Shabbat, which I led! About 15 Kehilat Shanghai families, as well as members from Kehilat Beijing, joined together to light the Shabbat Candles, say the blessings over the grape juice and bread, sing a few songs, and say what we were thankful for.

While it would be wonderful to see everybody in person, it was very nice to see so many of our community come together to celebrate Shabbat!

Despite the continued semi-self-imposed quarantine, this was another productive and good week. It’s comforting seeing (even through zoom) that people I know are still here. There are also other people beginning to return to Shanghai, so hopefully the worst of the virus is over.

I hope that this update about how my life has been impacted by the coronavirus has reassured you about my health and safety. Hopefully a cure will be discovered for the coronavirus soon. I plan to make this another productive research week as I continue to make lemonade out of lemons or the best out of an unfortunate situation. I look forward to updating you all about my life and adventures next week! If you have any questions/comments or concerns about Shanghai or my safety, let me know!

In peace,
Jesse

February 9, 2020

Life in Quarantine: Week 2

Thank you so much for following alone with my life in Shanghai! I really appreciate hearing from so many of you asking about how I’m doing during this difficult time.

If you haven’t, please subscribe and let me know! To subscribe, enter your name and e-mail on the right side of the page. Once subscribed, you’ll receive an e-mail with each new post. If you have any questions about Shanghai, let me know. Instructions are on the “To Comment” page. Also, if you know anyone who is concerned about me, please share this blog with them.

Life in Shanghai

I want to start this post by again thanking all of you who have reached out to either me directly or to my parents to ask about how I’m doing. I really appreciate knowing that so many people are concerned and care about me. I want to again reassure all of you that I am healthy, I am safe, and for the most part, I am happy. Since I don’t want to rehash all of the same information that I discussed on my last post, I recommend that if you did not read my last post, please do. It covers what’s been going on in Shanghai (https://astronomerinshanghai.com/uncategorized/life-in-quarantine-week-1/).

As I did last week, I spent the vast majority of this week in my apartment. I went out a few times to get some fruit and some household essentials as well as a few social activities. Every time I do, I wear a mask and gloves. When I return home I wash my hands. I’ve even been on the subway, which is incredibly empty. My understanding is that it is now strongly encouraged (maybe required?) for all people to wear masks when they are outside. This is purely a safety precaution and as discussed before, may not do much to help. Additionally, in order to enter most buildings and the subway, there are security guards set up outside to measure people’s temperatures. So, the city is clearly taking as many precautions as possible to make sure that people who are sick are not entering public spaces. Additionally, the city has required that anyone who returns to Shanghai from any outside location must spend 2 weeks in self-quarantine. So, the city is taking this very seriously. On a somewhat hopeful note, as of today, SJTU is planning to begin the spring semester on March 2nd. So, hopefully that will happen!

While the number of infected has continued to rise in China. In the past week, the numbers have only slowly grown in Shanghai. There are ~300 cases. There are still only 5 cases in the Huangpu district where I live, which is reassuring. So clearly, the Shanghai Municipal Government is doing a very good job keeping the city safe. Additionally, outside of Wuhan and Hubei province, the virus is not very deadly. There are only 26 deaths outside Hubei, many of whom are either the elderly or the very young. Additionally, I recently learned that the World Health Organization is sending a team of doctors to help study and work on a cure for the virus. So, hopefully things will begin to turn around and improve soon!

As I emphasized in my last post, I’m neither insanely brave nor naive about the current situation. As of now, I still believe I am making the correct and safest decision by not fleeing from Shanghai. I’ve talked with a lot of people about what they are doing. Many of us are concerned about the potential for quarantine upon arrival to the US as well as the fear of getting on a plane for 12+ hours with someone who is sick or being in heavily crowded areas (like airports or train stations). So, I think for the time being staying here is the best option.

While the city at times feels relatively empty, many restaurants, malls, and stores are still open and there is some small sense of life returning to the city as people return from the lunar new year holiday. However, below you can see Fuxing Road and Huahuai Road, two generally busy streets that are practically deserted on a Sunday afternoon.

Having already been through self-quarantine for a week, another week of quarantine wasn’t too bad. Unlike the author of the recent New York Times op-ed, I am getting dressed every day and not staying in my pajamas. I’ve spent a ton of time doing research and writing. So, I’ve been super productive. I’ve had multiple telecons with collaborators in the US, which has allowed me to have some scientific interactions and conversations. In terms of my research. I’m currently finalizing the results of my first Dark Energy Survey project and will be writing those up this week. I also wrote a draft of my paper based on conversations with Song Huang. So, in about the span of a month, I’ve done the research and written a paper! I’ve never had such a quick turnaround and it feels awesome! I plan to continue revising this paper this week and send it to some collaborators for feedback. Additionally, although we haven’t been doing AstroCoffee since SJTU is closed, a group of the postdocs have gotten together (via zoom) to chat about new figures and results each day. It’s been really nice to see and hear from my colleagues and friends! Thankfully, they are healthy and safe as well.

In terms of the rest of my life, I’m still able to get groceries delivered via Kate & Kimi, so I have a stocked fridge and plenty of healthy food to eat. My internet is still working well so I can catch up on tv. I’ve also been reading a lot of comics!

Despite the quarantine, I did get to do some fun things. On Friday, members of Kehilat Shanghai got together for Shabbat dinner (more on that later). Then on Saturday, I got coffee with my friends Shimi and Heather. It was really nice on both occasions to see physical people (not via my phone or computer) and relax and not talk about the coronavirus. As I’ve said before, it’s very reassuring that so many of my friends are still here in Shanghai. This outbreak has really made me grateful for the supportive Jewish community and the many new and interesting friends I have made.

I also went on another walking tour with Historic Shanghai this week. This time, we explored the old French Concession. This is an area that isn’t too far from where I live and is full of tons of interesting looking art deco buildings. I’ve seen a lot of these places before on my runs to Xujiahui park and walks around Shanghai (including my visit last summer), but it was really nice to learn from Patrick and Tina about the history of this part of the city.

As you can see in the pictures above these are really interesting and unique looking buildings. Many of these are apartment buildings, built in the 1920s-1940s, that are far different from the majestic skyscrapers that make up Shanghai’s skyline. Prior to joining Historic Shanghai on so many tours, I really hadn’t noticed how prevalent the art deco style was in Shanghai.

I really enjoyed the opportunity to go outside and stretch my legs on the walk. Since I haven’t been running (I did see runners during the walk), it was nice to stretch and move around. Running is definitely one of the things I’m missing most right now. While I could run in a mask, I have a lot of trouble controlling my breathing when I wear the different masks, so running would probably not be best for me.

I also saw a few more photo worthy things on my way to and from the walk.

Food in Shanghai

While I didn’t have any extravagant Chinese meals this week, since the tour was through the former French Concession, so we stopped at three bakeries!

I enjoyed a butterfly cookie, a piece of chestnut cake with mocha creme, and a matcha and red bean cake. The matcha red bean cake was my favorite! Interestingly deserts aren’t very sweet in China, despite the European/French influence on deserts. I still haven’t really determined if there is a traditional Chinese desert yet since every bakery I’ve been to is heavily French influenced.

Jewish Life in Shanghai

This week, the Kehilat WeChat group became much more active. From community members trying to find out who else is currently in Shanghai to those same members organizing get togethers for coffee and Shabbat dinner. It was really comforting to see the community come together! I’m really glad that these things happened, since prior, I was disheartened by the absence of any messages from the community leaders.

On Friday, my friend Barbara hosted Shabbat dinner at her lovely lane house home!

As you can see, a group of 7 of us came together for Shabbat dinner. We had delicious food (I made a quinoa, couscous, and roasted vegetable salad). It was wonderful being together to celebrate Shabbat. We were also joined via zoom by other members of the community who were either unable to join or outside Shanghai. Since going to Shabbat services and dinner has become a part of my weekly routine, it was comforting getting to have that opportunity again! I hope that these sorts of events continue to happen!

Despite my continued semi-self-imposed quarantine this week, it was a good and productive week. As with last week, it is comforting seeing people I know who are still here and makes me remain comfortable with my decision to stay.

I hope that this update about life in Shanghai (and the coronavirus) has reassured you about my health and safety. Hopefully the spread of the virus will slow and a cure will be discovered soon. I hope that you enjoyed my pictures from the former French Concession as well. I plan to make this a productive research week. I look forward to updating you all about my life and adventures next week! If you have any questions/comments about Shanghai or my safety, let me know!

In peace,
Jesse

February 3, 2020

Life in Quarantine: Week 1

Thank you so much for following alone with my life in Shanghai!

If you haven’t, please subscribe and let me know! To subscribe, enter your name and e-mail on the right side of the page. Once subscribed, you’ll receive an e-mail with each new post. If you have any questions about my life in Shanghai, let me know. Instructions are on the “To Comment” page. Also, if you know anybody who is concerned about me here in Shanghai, please feel free to share this blog with them.

Life in Shanghai

I’m sure many of you are very aware about the coronavirus outbreak in China. So, I want to start this post by reassuring you that I am healthy and I am taking all the required safety precautions. For the most part I am staying in my apartment. However, every time I go outside I am avoiding crowds, wearing a mask and gloves, and washing my hands when I return in doors. I now have three masks. One is temporary and only good for a few more hours outside, but the other two are fine for another 4-6 months each, so I think I’m fine on that front. I know many of you have reached out to my parents or me directly to see how I am doing. I really appreciate all the love and support that I’m receiving in this nerve wracking time. Thank you for thinking of me.

Since my last update the number of cases of the coronavirus has continued to grow in China. Thankfully, the Chinese government appears to be doing a good job containing the virus as the majority of people who are sick are in Wuhan. I think that this is one of the times were there is a real tangible benefit to the authoritarian state here in China. The government can much more easily control where people go and where doctors are sent than in the US.

Here in Shanghai, there have been ~ 200 cases and nearly all of them are people who had either been to Wuhan or had interacted with people who had been to Wuhan. Statistically, this is an incredibly small number for a city with 27 million people (even if a fraction of the population is out of town for the lunar new year holiday). As my boss Prof. Zu told me, the draconian practices of the Shanghai municipal government seem to be working. Wet markets have been shut down, subways and public spaces are frequently disinfected, and schools/universities have remained closed. SJTU is currently closed and the start of the semester (February 15th) has been postponed indefinitely. However, many stores and restaurants are open, so the city is not entirely shutdown.

So, you may be wondering why am I still in China and am I scared? I’m not going to lie and say that I am fearless and completely at ease. While there have been a few times I’ve freaked out about not knowing what to do (as my parents will attest), for the most part, I feel that Shanghai is safe and not heavily impacted by the virus. I received reassurance from my boss Prof. Zu, that everything is fine in Shanghai. I’ve also talked with many friends (mostly Kehilat members) who are also staying in Shanghai. So, it’s very reassuring to know that I’m not alone (even though it can be lonely). Another reason I haven’t left is that I’m not convinced that going to an airport (where there will undoubtedly be large crowds) and being on an airplane for 12+ hours will actually be safe/healthy. Additionally, I don’t really want to deal with the potential of quarantine if I return to the US. I’d rather remain here in my apartment, where I’m more comfortable.

So, since I’ve remained here, what exactly has it been like living in a self-imposed quarantine. While that is not a sentence I ever expected to be writing, it hasn’t been as terrible as it sounds. This past week I had the benefit of watching tons of fabulous tennis during the Australian open and more importantly, I’ve had a lot of time to make progress on my DES project (the final portion of my dissertation) as well as on my research based on my conversation with Song Huang. So, I’ve set the audacious goal of having the DES paper submitted to the collaboration and having a draft of the other paper written by the time that work at SJTU resumes (which hopefully will be in a few weeks). So, maybe I will get something positive out of this experience. 🙂

Additionally, Kate & Kimi, the grocery delivery service that I use is fully operational, so I have a fridge stocked full of vegetables, fruit, and veggie products. I’ve done lots of cooking so I also have homemade spicy peanut soup, coucous salad, and apple sauce bread (Thanks for the recipe Mom!).

While the recommendation is to remain inside, I have gone outside a few times. Mostly to pick up more masks (the blue one above) and to buy some fruit, soap, and kitchen essentials or take out the trash. When I went to the grocery store, a security guard took my temperature with a digital thermometer before I was allowed in. So, people are taking precautions. Additionally, I met up with friends from Kehilat (more on that later) and went on a tour with Historic Shanghai. Even though my life has been greatly altered by the coronavirus, I haven’t become a shut-in never leaving my apartment.

The two main things that I miss are the social camaraderie of working in an office and getting to go running. While I could run wearing a mask, I find that I have a harder time breathing when I wear them while walking, so I don’t want to risk it. As a result, I’ve done more crunches, pushups, mountain climbers, and jumping jacks in my apartment on my yoga mat than I would like too, but it’s better than nothing. I’m still trying to stay fit and healthy through this crisis.

As I noted earlier, I went on a walking tour of the historic buildings along the Bund that make up the former French, US, and British concessions with Historic Shanghai on Thursday. I also learned that Bund is just a Indian-British term used to describe the embankment along a river. Additionally, for those of you curious, Patrick and Tina who run the group have lived in Shanghai since 1997 (including during the SARS outbreak) and Patrick is also a Brown alum (Ever true!). So I know that if they’re still leading tours each week, that it’s safe for me to be outside .

The Tour began at a hotel, where there were two magnificent lions!

You can see some of the recognizable Bund landmarks in the background.

There are a ton of very interesting older buildings that were built in the Art Deco style. At times it feels like I’m walking around in an episode of Batman the Animated Series. 🙂

We also saw the outside of a few churches that were built in the early 20th century. While beautiful, it feels weird to see a European style church in China.

We ended the tour at Yuyuan (near the gardens). There were really fantastic Chinese New Year decorations up. One disappointing thing though is that the lantern festival, which is due to start next week, will likely not happen, so I guess I have something to look forward to next year.

I’m really glad that I joined Historic Shanghai for the walk. It was really nice to talk to people and be out of my apartment. I’m thinking of doing another walk later this week.

In terms of other social activities, on Saturday, I got together with my friend Shimi and some of his friends for a game night. While there was still a lot of conversation about the coronavirus, it was a lot of fun relaxing over rounds of cards against humanity, exploding kittens, and quirkle! Also, during the game night, Shimi was interviewed for Israeli TV, calmly talking about the situation in China and why he’s staying in Shanghai!

Food in Shanghai

Despite the coronavirus, some restaurants are open. AIthough neither was very crowded. I had two meals out. On Thursday, after the walk, the Historic Shanghai group went to lunch. Thankfully, Patrick was able to order some vegetarian options for me (and another vegetarian). 🙂 We had seitan, tofu skin noodles, greens, and mushrooms with bok choy.

Then on Saturday, I met my friend and fellow Kehilat member Barbara for lunch at Vegetarian Lifestyle. This is one of my favorite vegan/vegetarian restaurants. We had gluten balls with vegetables, matsutake mushroom dumplings, crispy sword beans, seitan and vegetable curry, and crispy bamboo!

My favorites were the dumplings and the curry! The food was fantastic!

Overall, despite being in a state of semi-self-imposed quarantine this week, it was a good week. It has been very comforting to see that so many of the people that I know here in Shanghai (many of whom like Patrick, Tina, Barbara, and Shimi, have lived in China for years) are staying in Shanghai. This has really helped to reaffirm my decision not to flee.

I hope that my update about what is happening in Shanghai (with respect to the coronavirus) has reassured you about my health and safety. Hopefully a cure will be discovered soon so life can return to a semblance of normalcy. I hope that you enjoyed my food photos and pictures from the Bund. This upcoming week will hopefully feature some more research progress. I look forward to sharing my upcoming adventures with you all! If you have any questions/comments about Shanghai or my safety, let me know!

In peace,
Jesse