Welcome to Astronomer in Shanghai! Thank you for following my blog and for your interest in my adventures in Shanghai! As covid-19 continues to plague the US, and you all are (hopefully) wearing masks when you go outside and maintaining social distancing practices, I hope that my blog highlights that there will be a recovery from covid-19 (which is sadly far away in the US). Once things improve, I hope you’ll look forward to small interactions with friends and family. I’m sure you’ll find that these interactions will be highlights for you as well. In Shanghai, life has returned to a new normal. Since outbreaks may still occur, it’s important that we wear masks and cooperate with social distancing guidelines so that things will improve.
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Life in Shanghai
I hope that this latest update finds you all staying safe and healthy while enjoying your labor day holiday. For a China fact, Labor Day is celebrated here, but on May 1st as part of International Workers Day. Since Labor Day officially marks the end of the summer, I hope that all of you have been able to have an enjoyable summer even while staying safe, wearing masks, and following social distance protocols. As I’ve mentioned before, I know that many of you work in Academia. Whether you’re a parent, a teacher, a graduate student, a post-doc, or a professor, I really hope that you feel comfortable about what your school/institution has implemented. I hope that all of you are able to work safely (and remotely if possible) this upcoming year.
Since the news was a little bit calmer this week, I want to start this post by briefly updating you about the status of Covid-19 in Shanghai and China. China is almost entirely recovered. There are still imported cases, but there have been no recent outbreaks. Masks are only required on public transportation, such as the Metro and in taxis. Moreover, schools are open for in person learning. The only difference is that universities (like SJTU, where I work), will have closed campuses this semester. All students are required to remain on campus for the entire semester, they cannot leave to go to other parts of the city. While this type of policy may be strict, it will help halt potential outbreaks. Currently, there are 46 active cases in Shanghai (0 in Beijing). The recovery rate is up to 94.2%. For China as a whole the recovery rate is 94.3%. So, Shanghai is now typical of China. As the US is now well over 6 million cases, I want to again emphasize the importance of following social distancing guidelines and electing officials that will listen to scientists, not just listen to their bank accounts, the stock market, and the economy.
In terms of Astronomy, this was a very slow week. I spent some time working to get a better understanding of the high redshift DES-ACT data that I just started a project on. However, for the other projects that I’m working on, I have reached phases where I actively need to have discussions with my collaborators. Unfortunately, the end of summer/beginning of the semester/labor day holiday, made it difficult for those meetings to occur. So, I spent much of the week reading papers. Hopefully this upcoming week I can continue making further research progress.
Before I share the highlights of my trip to Moganshan (which was great!), I want to briefly talk about or latest Moishe House discussion on Racism and Social Justice (we’ve expanded beyond just BLM). This past week’s discussion focused on the Model Minority Myth (which plagues both the Jewish and Asian American community) as well as the racism that impacts and exists within the Asian and Asian American Communities. Additionally, we talked a lot about the idea of affirmative action as well as the relationship between the Black and Asian community and how a lot of the tension that exists has historically been related to systemic racist business practices and laws.
Since I gave a presentation on it, for those of you unfamiliar, the model minority myth is the idea that there are certain minority communities that have reached high levels of either socio-economic or academic success. These models are then touted to emphasize that the struggles of other minorities are not due to the systemic injustices that exist in the US (and elsewhere) but rather the faults of the minorities. Model minorities are often invisible because they’re doing what they’re supposed to until they become too good at which leads them to become hypervisible, which can lead to further discrimination or identification as n other. This behavior is shown by both the ebbs and flows of anti-Semitism and Anti-Asian sentiment. Furthermore, model minorities are often used to perpetuate negative behavior toward Blacks and Latinos. These stereotypes persist all throughout the world and are often highlighted in movies and tv. While not all the stereotypes are bad (on their own), in my opinion, the problem arises from how these myths perpetuate the idea of being an other and an outsider. Moreover, these myths remove any sort of differences among members of the community and add undo pressure to members of those communities.
Moganshan!
After being in Shanghai for 11 months, on Friday, I finally left the city! I went to Moganshan with 8 of my friends (and one dog, Lucky!). Since many of you are likely unfamiliar with cities in China other than Shanghai and Beijing, I’ll start by describing Moganshan. Moganshan is a park/mountain with a small village nearby. It’s been described as the Hamptons of Shanghai, since it serves as a vacation area for many of the people who live in Shanghai. While I don’t think that’s the best comparison, Moganshan is not nearly as exclusive or as fancy as the Hamptons, it was still lovely! Moganshan is about a 3 hour drive from Shanghai. We rented an awesome AirBNB and spent Friday, Saturday, and the first half of Sunday enjoying time away from the city and in nature!
We had a fun drive out to Moganshan! Though, as you can see, Lucky spent most of the trip roaming around the car, which made it extra fun! We then stopped at a really nice Chinese rest stop. The Chinese rest stops were similar to the one’s in New York, with lots of restaurants, and even some fresh fruit vendors! I got rice noodles with veggies!
Here you can see our fantastic AirBNB!
After arriving in Moganshan, we went on an amazing three hour hike! It brought back fond memories of the hikes I’d do with Emmet and my Dad in the North Woods or the Adirondacks! Lucky led the way and I was often close behind. 🙂
These are some of the beautiful photos from the first part of our hike! After being in the city for so long, it was so much fun to hike through the stunning bamboo forest! This was the China I remember from watching all the panda videos (and The Great Panda Adventure) growing up and have been eager to see and experience! The first part of our hike was super intense and very steep. Once we reached the main trail, we saw a sign that warned foreigners not to go the way we did. 🙂
One thing that I was really impressed by was that there were trash and recycling bins set up along the paths. Sadly, I ended up picking up some trash and recycling along the way, but it was nice that some effort is being made to prevent littering.
Next we saw an amazing and majestic waterfall!
Near the waterfall, there was a pagoda built into the mountain and a really cool statue of a swordsmith forging a sword!
We continued our ascent up (on some stairs this time–stairs are commonly carved/built into the mountains) until we reached the castle, seen in the distance. The castle was built by the Naked Company (which is similar to WeWork) and has super expensive villas that you can rent out. We didn’t go in, but it was a nice landmark for our hike!
You can also see how gorgeous Moganshan is as further highlighted by the colors on the way down!
Overall, the hike was an amazing start to the wonderful vacation!
After our hike, we spent some time cooking and had a lovely Shabbat dinner! Although not shown, we had homemade pizzas (Hannah Maia was able to get pizza dough from one of the restaurants here), delicious Challah (made by Hannah Maia), as well as pasta with homemade tomato sauce (thanks to Heather) and watermelon salad!
After dinner, like we did on Saturday, we played games and enjoyed the chocolate tahini cookies I made! We played Anomia, Secret Hitler and tons of the games on jackbox.tv. After a long day of hiking it was wonderful to relax in the evening with games and friends!
On Saturday, we started the day with a workout. 🙂 Hannah Maia and Daniel are F45 (Function 45, a global gym also in Shanghai) fanatics and led us all on an intense HIIT (high intensity interval training) workout! I was beat afterwards (though, I really enjoyed it and it’s definitely something I will do more of), but it was a great start to the day!
The best way to relax after a tiring workout was to use the pool! Which was great to have, but only went up to my knee.
We followed up pool time and a workout with a wonderful brunch! We enjoyed french toast (and vegan french toast), chick pea salad, tofu salad, fruit salad, and shakshuka.
In the afternoon, some of us went down to explore Moganshan town. It felt a little Disneyfied, where the town has become a lot more tourist friendly (both to Chinese and Western tourists). However, it was still fun to explore and see different part of China!
There were so many cool sculptures and works of art to see in the town, which I loved! My favorite was the Totoro selling ice cream!!
After exploring the downtown area, we had a delicious barbecue dinner prepared by Daniel and Hannah Maia! The vegan highlights were tofu kebabs, roasted potatoes, and Indian spiced cauliflower!
One of the highlights of the trip was getting to play with Lucky! She really helped me relax and made everyone enjoy our company a little bit more (while also making us go very fast on our hike). 🙂
On Sunday, we had a relaxing morning! Hannah Maia and I took Lucky for a walk, which allowed me to take some more photos of the area!
The cabin built into the bamboo reminded both Hannah Maia and me of the Adirondacks!
We ended our trip on a high note with one last delicious brunch! The highlights included cinnamon buns, chive pancakes (like scallion pancakes), and fruit compote!
One other fun part of the trip was seeing all the different wildlife! From large beetles on the hike, to birds living in the rocks, to frogs in the swimming pool, it was fun to see such different wildlife than what I regularly see in Shanghai.
Overall Moganshan was a wonderful trip filled with great friends, delicious food, and beautiful nature! I’m so grateful to my friends Hannah Maia and Daniel for organizing and including me on this trip! I also have to thank my friends for sharing some of their own amazing photos (some included here) with me! I’m so glad that I finally was able to start exploring other parts of China! While I love living in Shanghai, I’m already excited for my next adventure outside of Shanghai!
This was a wonderful, relaxing, and fun week! The trip to Moganshan was exactly what I needed to reset and get ready for the new school year! I’ll be finally back in the office next week, so I’ll let you all know what it’s like to no longer be working from home full time and what safety precautions SJTU is implementing.
I hope that you enjoyed seeing all of the beauty in Moganshan as well as some of the fun that I had! I hope that this update gives you a greater appreciation for China’s natural beauty! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about Shanghai, Moganshan, or covid-19, please let me know.
In peace,
Jesse
Hi Jesse,
It certainly sounds like you had an excellent end to the summer! I’m sorry that your research has been stuck in place, but at least you had a fun weekend to make up for it. I loved seeing all of the pictures of Moganshan! It’s nice to see nature and the bamboo forests are A nice reminder that China looks different from the US. The hike sounds great and hard. The statue of the swordsmith was really cool. Was that there for any reason? I also really like the other statues you saw in downtown Moganshan. Totoro is great! Was downtown Moganshan a lot of tourist shops, or were there normal businesses, too? I’m so glad you could have a nice weekend with your friends. Between all of the pictures and the yummy looking/sounding meals, it looks like everyone had a great time. It also looks like you really enjoyed having Lucky around! I hope you have a great week and that going back into the office is safe and easy. Have a great week. Stay safe as healthy.
Love,
Emmet
Also, I really agree with your early points about the problems of model minorities and stereotypes. Unfortunately, pop culture has really hurt everyone by perpetuating a lot of these and we’re all the worse for it. Combatting these and reminding people that they aren’t an accurate depiction of all minorities is super important.
Love,
Emmet
Thanks Emmet!! I’m glad you enjoyed all my photos from the bamboo forest! I just looked it up, but according to Chinese legend, the swordsmith Ganjiang forged two swords for the Emperor of the Wu in Moganshan, so the statue was illustrating that myth. 🙂 Downtown Moganshan was a mixture of small cafes and shops. It did seem to cater mostly to tourists, since the shops weren’t essential goods stores.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on model minorities. I think your point on the role of popular culture and systemic racism is really important not just for model minorities, but for how Black people are viewed as well. I’ll let you know what it’s like to be back in the office!
Hi Jesse!
Looks like a great adventure!
What fun!
Great to see all the pictures!!
Happy Labor Day!
XoxoPam
Thanks Aunt Pam! I’m glad you enjoyed seeing all the photos!
Hi Jesse, and as always, thank you for your great blog. You certainly brought Moganshan alive for me here in Saratoga. Did you see many tourists or people who appear to live there all the year around? That Air BnB looks incredible.
Your thoughts on model minorities highlights the “essentialist” views that undergird racism but as much, such “models” simply ignore key social structures that different minority groups have created for themselves that insofar as they do protect and allow those groups to thrive in their diasporas. The problem in the US is that because of slavery and because of the way that slavery in all but name was permitted to continue long after “Reconstruction” (I am thinking of mass incarceration and the loss of rights to food stamps, to public housing, to vote (in many states) after release AND the obligation to work for pennies for for profit corporations while incarcerated (so, for example, a great deal of institutional furniture bought by NYS tax dollars is made by prison labor! and , as I believe, were the hand sanitizers that the state purchased), around April or May… ) so the social structures created by those in communities of color in the US were fundamentally crippled by state and federal imposition in ways that many voluntary immigrant communities were not.
Your discussion of the meals you made suggest how delightful the food was. Sounds like you are all creating a world fusion of vegetarian and vegan dishes. I love it. On a side note we harvested our potatoes (grown in bags since the end of May). I had cut up and planted about 5 potatoes that had begun to sprout in the kitchen and from those “seed potatoes” I got about five plants in each grow bag and from the four bags we harvested a total of about 2.5 lbs of potatoes. (I was saying to Lisa, that if we had to depend on what we have been able to harvest from our vegetables this year we would be starving… though I was pleasantly surprised to find another 3 cucumbers I could add to our pantry on Friday (we still have some tomatoes on the vine but they do not seem to be ripening, and while I planted three winter squash plants and we have had dozens and dozens of flowers none of the flowers have been male and so we have had not a single squash. (sigh)) . Hopefully, next spring is another opportunity.
Thanks Bernard! I’m glad I was able to bring Moganshan to life for you! In town, we saw mostly Chinese tourists. There were some locals who ran the shops as well though. But, I think most of the visitors were tourists.
I think your point about slavery and the lasting ramifications is key as well. The examples of model minorities are those that have not had to also deal with the negative impact of continued systemic racism and oppression.
We did make a ton of delicious food on the trip! I’m glad to hear that your garden’s harvest is coming along nicely (even if you can’t be fully sustained by it 🙂 ). Hopefully, you’ll get some more great yields from your crop!
Hi Jesse,
What a fabulous weekend getaway. How wonderful that you can
finally begin to explore more of the country than your home-city.
I look forward to more reports on your travels.
You mentioned pandas, and that reminded me that the Washington Zoo has a new baby panda, born about 2 weeks ago! I don’t think the keepers have been able to get the baby yet so its sex isn’t known yet, but the 22 year old mother, who’s had several other cubs, is doing a great job of caring for her cub. The National Zoo has its Panda-cam up and running, if you want to check it out. But maybe you’ll get to see pandas in the wild while
you’re there!
Hi Aunt Judy! It’s wonderful to hear from you! I did see the news about the new panda born in the Washington Zoo! It sounded very exciting, especially since the mother is older. I’ll definitely have to check out the panda cam! In terms of pandas in China, outside of zoos, the panda reserves are located in Chengdu, which is in Western China (near Tibet). I definitely plan to visit Chengdu while I live here. Plus, I’ve heard that you can even pay to hold the panda cubs, which I would have to do! 🙂 Hope you, Uncle Keren, Zack, and Jared are all staying safe and healthy!
Dear Jesse,
I so enjoyed your pictures and description of Moganshan. I know how much you have enjoyed growing bamboo in your apartments and dorms over the years, so it must have been amazing to walk through a bamboo forest. The pagoda structure looked amazing, too. And what a lovely group of friends you have to adventure with and enjoy Shabbat with. I was touched to see the portable Shabbat candles we gave you before you set off for college were with you on your weekend get away. I was delighted to see cinnamon buns on the menu as I thought that bread was not part of a Chinese cuisine–did someone make them? If so, share the recipe please.
The points you raise about model minorities were very compelling, and I wish I could have heard your presentation. I am sorry that your research was stalled this week, and I hope that your transition back to the office goes smoothly. I am eager to hear how you felt returning to the SJTU campus after so many months away.
I am back in the swing of classes, and I am also making jam! I just made plum jam, and then I was given crabapples, so crabapple jelly is up next. It is a delight to be cooking in our renovated kitchen.
Be well and safe, and please know how much I miss you and love you.
Mom
Thanks Mom! I’m glad that you enjoyed seeing all of my photos! It was amazing to see the bamboo that stretched high into the sky (probably over 50 feet)! I’ve never seen bamboo like that before! It was really nice to have the Shabbat kit that you and Dad gave me! The cinnamon buns were given to Hannah Maia by one of her friends who runs a catering company (made by ex-pats). You’re correct that bread is not super popular in China. It’s become more popular, but it’s mostly in foreign style or owned businesses.
I’ll definitely let you know what it’s like to be back in the office full time! I’m glad to hear that the renovated kitchen has allowed you to be back more easily cooking and making jam! Hope that your next week of classes goes well!