For those of you who are new to my blog, if you are interested in this post and would like to comment. Please click on the “To Comment” page for instructions
If haven’t subscribed, please do so! You’ll receive an email each time I post a new entry. You can subscribe by entering your name and e-mail on the right side of each page. If you have trouble subscribing, contact me and I will add you directly.
If you’re enjoying this blog and haven’t told me, comment and subscribe!
Life in Shanghai
As noted in my last post, I have my resident visa! On Monday, I used this visa to setup my bank account at the Bank of China. Doing so, finally allowed me to access the wonderful, and magical, world of mobile pay! In China, everyone uses mobile pay. There are even street vendors that won’t even accept cash. Up until this week, I was stuck in the past, paying for everything in cash. Now, I have access to Alipay and to WeChat pay, which are linked directly to my bankcard. To use them, I just simply click on the app and scan the QR code! This makes shopping and eating at restaurants so much simpler! I don’t need to carry around an oversized wallet (except that I still need all my ID cards). I literally pay for everything on my phone (from groceries to fruit, to my water filters). For those of you in America, this is the way of the future! Nobody uses credit cards (the notion of credit and debt is frowned upon in China). I hope that in a few years these kind of systems become more commonplace in the US.
I also got my university ID card and an SJTU e-mail. So, I can now pay for my lunch at the cafeteria, instead of mooching off my colleagues. By the end of the week, I finally felt like a “real” person in Shanghai because I, like everyone else, could use the same pay systems.
To get the bankcard and campus ID card, I spent a lot of time wandering around the SJTU Minhang campus. The campus is huge! I only stay in a tiny corner of the campus. There is some really cool graphiti in an overpass on the campus as well!
In terms of Astronomy work, this was a productive week. We started our AstroCoffee program. This is a 3x per week meeting where 2 people present recent papers posted on arXiv. It was really cool seeing the work I spent organizing it come together. I can’t wait to see how it grows and evolves here. I also made more progress on my DES research (the last chapter of my dissertation) and am writing that up. In terms of new work, Prof. Ying Zu (my mentor) and I spent time discussing different research avenues for me to explore. I’ll be spending some time in the coming week(s) figuring out what I’ll be working on. For those Astronomers, topics include: the splashback radius, the lensing is low problem, the luminosity function of galaxies, and tracing halo formation.
There’s also a gym in our building, which I got to use for the first time! It has ellipticals, bikes, rowing machine, a bench press and free weights, and now a ping pong table It’s been really nice to get back into an exercise routine!
I also got my water filters installed! For those of you who haven’t been to China, the faucet tap water is not safe to drink because of old pipes and the large amount of Chlorine used to clean the water. As those of you who’ve known me for a long time know, I always carry a reusable water bottle with me, so it’s been a huge relief not to have to rely on bottled water anymore! Yay tap water!
My adventure for the weekend was to visit the Shanghai Museum, which I managed to miss twice on my visit to Shanghai in the summer. So, I was really excited to visit! This is an art/archaeology museum.
On my way there, I ran across a theatrical performance, where people were dressed in a variety of traditional Chinese outfits and practicing a routine. I’m not entirely sure what I watched, but the clothing was magnificent!
The Shanghai Museum is about a mile from my apartment, so I was easily able to view the four floors of exhibition halls. There was so much to see! Pottery, Bronze works, Buddhist statues, jade, coins, calligraphy, drawings, paintings! Below are some highlights from my visit! Definitely stop by if you visit me in Shanghai!
The Shanghai Museum A dog statue A stone Buddha A wooden Buddha head A stone Buddha An Axe A wine vessel A demon statue A beautiful flower A Jade ornament Traditional string instruments Bamboo armor A Tibetan Mask Another Tibetan Mask
Visiting the Museum was overwhelming (in a good way). I was surrounded by so much art and history. I really want to go again and do a guided tour (if those exist in English) so I can learn more about the culture. While my photos don’t show it, the Museum was incredibly crowded and mostly just locals and native Chinese, not tourists. It’s great to see that they are interested in their own history just as much as I am!
The grounds near the Museum are also incredibly beautiful! So, on Sunday, I came back to the area, and the nearby People’s Square park for a 5.5 mile run! It’s still very warm here (today it was almost 80). However, the temperature will start to cool into the 50s/60s this upcoming week. Here are highlights from my run!
The Gates of People’s Park Yes, there’s an amusement park for kids in People’s Square
In addition to all of these cool sites, I did see very cool advertisements as well!
Food in Shanghai
I’ve been able to cook in Shanghai. However, this weekend, for the first time, I ordered groceries online through a company called Kate & Kimi, which features specialty vegan products like seitan and vegan cheese! Everything was delivered in bags and boxes to my apartment right on time and it was much more convenient than schlepping to the grocery store. Overall, my order came out as advertised. According to Ying, this is the common way most people shop for groceries in Shanghai.
I still go to the fruit stand that is near my apartment. This week, I tried pomelo. It’s kind of like a grapefruit, but is much sweeter in taste. You also have to remove the white part before you eat it. I’ve also been trying different apples, Asian pears (or just pears here), oranges, and honeydew. Everything is still in season here! 🙂
I got a super refreshing watermelon/dragonfruit juice, which was served in a lightbulb? I’m not sure if it was actually a lightbulb, but it looked like one!
In addition to my own cooking, I went out for a fantastic meal on Sunday at another nearby vegetarian restaurant! Everything was fantastic and I’ll definitely be back!
A very spicy stir fry of seitan, mushrooms, cauliflower, potato, celery, and lots of chiles Seitan and bamboo in an Apricot Sauce (my favorite) Dumplings with a sesame sauce
Jewish Life in Shanghai
To celebrate Shabbat this week, I joined the Moishe House for Shabbat services and dinner. I arrived early, so I got to help prepare dinner (I mostly chopped and diced vegetables, but also got to make a pear/apple crumble!). It was great fun getting to spend Shabbat with other Jewish young professionals. Most are in Shanghai for either business, school, or as teachers. Since I’ve gone to so many Kehilat Shanghai and Moishe House events, I’ve met some of the other people who regularly attend. It’s been nice seeing familiar and friendly faces and getting to know people. Albeit, whenever I meet new people at these events, they are always shocked to meet an Astronomer. Since I’m usually the first they’ve ever met! 🙂
I hope that you enjoyed reading about my latest week in Shanghai, This was a relatively normal week and I finally started to feel like a resident of Shanghai. Since I now have all of these things in order, hopefully I’ll ease into a routine here. Although, I’m sure there will be many more interesting things this upcoming week. I’ve enjoyed getting and answering your questions and comments on my blog, so if you’re curious about anything I said, let me know!
Until next week!
In peace,
Jesse