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 mostly to 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 all of you safe and healthy! While I know covid-19 continues to dominate a lot of your thoughts and concerns, I did want to check in with all of my readers on the West Coast, particularly Oregon, Washington, and California and make sure that you and your families are staying safe during this devastating forest fire season. Also, since for many of you (or your children), the school year is now back in session, I’m curious how that’s going? Are you teaching from home or going into the office? If you’re going into the office, what kind of safety protocols are in place? I’ll discuss my own situation in a little bit. Regardless, I hope that you and your families are continuing to stay safe and healthy, wear masks, and take social distancing practices seriously.
The chaotic start of the school year in the US, as opposed to the relatively calm start of the school year here in China has really further highlighted the difference in our current situations. Since at this point, I’m unable to come home (and then return to China), I grow increasingly concerned about the lack of tangible improvement for the US as a whole. So, I really implore all of you to stay safe and wear masks (it’s not that hard). Like last week, the situation in China is mostly recovered. Shanghai has just 45 cases, all imported, (Beijing has 0) and Shanghai has a recovery rate of 94.5%, while the recovery rate for China is 94.3%. So, as another political reminder, make sure to vote for people who take covid-19 seriously and are willing to listen to scientists, not their bank accounts, for solutions.
Before discussing Astronomy, I wanted to let you know that I returned to the SJTU campus for the first time since January!!!! 🙂 Thankfully, my desk was still there, and it was loaded with goodies from the Dragon Boat festival that my colleagues had left out for me! I was given a bunch of yummy dried fruit, some snacks (which sadly all had meat), and some walnut and rapeseed oils! It was a very generous gift from the department and university! Overall, it was really nice to be back in the office. I got to see a lot of the post-docs I haven’t seen in months. I got to meet in person with Ying, my research supervisor as well as have our group meeting in person! Also, AstroCoffee will be in person next week.
I’m sure you’re all wondering what precautions the SJTU is taking. To enter the campus, you have your temperature checked and must have a campus ID. Then to actually enter the building, you need a green QR code (separate from the Shanghai Green QR code). I’ve also been using the bus to commute between the SJTU Minhang (where I work) and Xujiahui (closer to where I live) campuses. Everyone wears a mask on the bus. Additionally, the campus is closed for students, who are not allowed to leave the campus. Though I’m not entirely sure how this is enforced and plant to ask some of the students.
Regardless of all the safety concerns, it was lovely to step foot on the beautiful SJTU campus again! Even though I’m only going to go in 3x per week from now on.
In terms of actual Astronomy, this was a very productive week! I had an awesome meeting with my Ph.D. supervisor Chris and have reignited my DES SMHM relation research, finally making some strong progress! We’re aiming to submit our paper to the collaboration by the beginning of October. I also spent some time working on my Luminosity Function analysis and have a new avenue to explore for a uniform background. Lastly, we’re actually starting our science analysis for the DES-ACT (the high redshift data), which is exciting! So, there should be a lot of fun and exciting results to share with you all later this year!
Although this was an exhausting and productive week (I’m now getting up at 5:45 to take the 7:30 bus to campus), I still made time for some fun! On Wednesday, I got together with my friends to play Improv games! My personal favorite are story telling games! We did one where each person is telling the same story from the perspective of a different character, which was awesome and led to some hilarious interpretations! We also did one where we had 2 person teams and had to speak one word at a time alternating who speaks, which was challenging! Overall it was another fun night of laughs!
Another highlight of my weekend was that I finally got to go running again!!! It’s finally cooled down to the low-80s, so I’m able to go running comfortably, which I love! Although I’m a lot out of practice and need to get a lot more runs in, it felt amazing to stretch my legs, clear my mind, and run! Plus, I no longer have to wear a mask! Most people only wear masks on the subway and in taxis. Below you can see the beautiful park I ran through!
Another highlight of my weekend was on Sunday I hung out with my friend Heather! We went for lunch (which I’ll show later) and then went for a long walk (~4-5 miles) down the West Bund, which runs along the Huangpu River! It was great to catch up with Heather before her semester at NYU Shanghai starts! I got to see this different side of Shanghai and Heather pointed out some of the places that she’s visited. I’ve seen parts of the West Bund and the Shanghai skyline, but it was really cool to get to walk along it and then end up on Nanjing Road (kind of like Broadway + Times Square only bigger)! It’s definitely a spot I’ll come back to and would make for a great run!
In addition to the gorgeous skyline, there were tons of beautiful flowers along the path!
We also ended our walk by stopping by the famous Peace Hotel, originally built by the Sassoon family, one of the oldest most prominent families Jewish families that lived in Shanghai until the 1940/50s.
In addition to the fun adventures this weekend, there were also a few things I wanted to show you! First, on the bus ride each morning, I pass an amusement park! Though I’m unsure if it’s still opened.
Plus, while it may not be safe enough to go to the movies in the US, it is here in China. Tenet is the movie to see! I hope I’ll be able to see it in theaters (I haven’t seen a movie in theaters in China yet).
Additionally, while I was walking home on Saturday night, I saw a bunch of rentable bikes being loaded into trucks to be moved strategically around the city! These kind of bikes are super popular in Shanghai. Almost everyone uses them (I have) and they’re very inexpensive (less than $1 for a 15-20 minute ride). Sadly, they don’t provide helmets, which is not ideal.
Food in Shanghai
It’s been a while since I’ve eaten out, but on Sunday, I got a delicious lunch with Heather! We went to a new vegetarian restaurant near my apartment!
We got a mushroom, fruit and quinoa salad, rice with mushrooms, stuffed mushroom caps, and a tofu hot pot! Everything was very fresh and delicious!
For some other culinary highlights of the week, I cooked with Chinese Eggplant (I made Szechuan tofu and eggplant)! These long Chinese eggplants have no seeds and are not bitter like the normal eggplants I get in the US. I also tried a red bean popsicle, which was quite interesting!
Jewish Life in Shanghai
On Saturday evening, Moishe House hosted a Yoga Havdalah! My friend Ely is a trained Yoga instructor and led our class, on the roof of the building the Moishe House is in. We focused mostly on our hips and pelvis. I’m definitely going to do it again, even though I’m not very flexible!
After doing Yoga, we did the Havdalah rituals and blessings up on the roof to usher in the week! It was great fun to practice Yoga and enjoy the Havdalah with my friends!
Next week (Friday night) is Rosh Hashanah! While I’m sure this year will be different for almost all of you, I want to wish all of you who are celebrating L’Shana Tova! Happy New Year! I hope that this is a good year for all of you. I’m helping to coordinate and lead Kehilat Shanghai’s services, which I’ll tell you all about next week!
Overall, this was a productive and enjoyable week! A great balance between work and friends! Next week will likely be dominated by Rosh Hashanah (my first in Shanghai!) as the Kehilat Shanghai board works to finalize everything. So, I’m sure there will be lots to share with you all.
I hope that you enjoyed seeing all of the the West Bund and Shanghai’s skyline! I hope that you enjoy exploring Shanghai with me! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about Shanghai, SJTU, or covid-19, please let me know.
In peace,
Jesse
Hi Jesse,
It sounds like you had a great and productive week. I’m glad you were able to go into the office, even if you have to get up super early. Are they doing in person colloquia this semester? Also, are all of the grad students back, or is some of the instruction still online. I’m glad to hear that research is going well and that you should be submitting the paper with Chris soon. I’m finishing up my reviewer edits this week. I’m excited to see what you find for your high-z work. Keep me posted on that one. I really liked seeing all of the pictures of Shanghai and the different parts of the city. I love how many flowers there are in contrast to the giant skyscrapers. Are there lots of commercial shops along the Nanjing road? Is it super western? The Peace hotel looks really cool, too. Is it still a hotel, or just a landmark now. Also, I’m so glad you’ve been able to go running. It’s been cooler here in Saratoga, so it’s made running pretty comfortable. I hope you get to see Tenet. I’m resigned to the fact that unless it plays at a drive in, I won’t be seeing it. As always, the food looks amazing. I like how mushroom forward everything was! My kind of meal. I’ve had red bean ice cream before, was the popsicle similar to that? I’m glad you had a nice Havdalah. I hope you have an equally nice and meaningful Rosh Hashanah (and that it isn’t too stressful on the organizational end). As always, I hope you have a productive week and stay safe and healthy.
Love,
Emmet
Hi Emmet! Thanks! Some of our colloquia are in person. Today’s was not. I hope that more are. As far as I know all of the graduate students are back on campus (though there are a lot I don’t really know). I hope that you’re edits are going well! I look forward to sharing your paper at AstroCoffee! Nanjing road is super commercial. It’s a lot of western stores (Nike, Sketchers, Starbucks, …) that cater to Chinese clientele. The Peace Hotel is a landmark and a luxury hotel. You’re lucky that running is so comfortable. So far, it’s still warm here. I hope you’ll get to see Tenet, too. Matbe it will still be playing when you arrive? The red bean popsicle did remind me of the red bean mochi I’ve had. Thanks for the well wishes for Rosh Hashanah! I hope that you’re services are meaningful. L’Shana Tova!
Hi Jesse,
Sounds like you had a nice, productive week! Yoga for the hips sounds like a really nice way to restore movement from sitting all day. Happy New Year on Friday!
Thanks Ryan! The Yoga was a nice way to counterbalance all the time I spend sitting every day. Hope that you’re staying safe and healthy in Michigan! We should catch up sometime soon!
Another very intersting blog, Jesse. Glad to hear that you are able to get back into campus and to your desk. The gifts of food looked delightful.
The views of Shanghai are gorgeous. The city has great history but the buildings all seem so modern. I wonder if the Chinese government preserved any of the older buildings as part of the people’s heritage or their view was that those structures were part of a social system that they view as abhorrent and so their demolition, removal and replacement was “necessary”.
Rosh HaShanah here in the US is going to be so very different for so many people. Many temples are planning on online services and Orthodox synagogues are planning on much shorter and multiple face to face services for a very small number of congregants with many people running services for themselves and their families at home. The sound of the shofar is a highlight of the service (on Sunday, not the first day because of Shabbat) and so to hear this will be a challenge for many. As it happens , I have a shofar, and i know how to blow it and my plan is to stay home with Lisa.
The Sassoon family is quite famous in Britain. Vidal Sassoon, the celebrity hair stylist was a big figure in London in the 1970’s and 80’s and he was part of the Shanghai family.
Shana tova to you, Jesse.
Thanks Bernard! In terms of historical buildings, there are a lot of buildings that were built in the 1920s and 30s (One of Shanghai’s expansion periods). Many of those buildings have been preserved (on the outside). Unfortunately, they are also designing buildings to look like those, but using some modern techniques that take away from the authenticity. Other than the temples, there aren’t a lot of traditional Chinese buildings that are hundreds of years old in Shanghai since it was a port city. Even along the bund there are historic buildings. However, the side that I took pictures of (Pudong) wasn’t built up until more recently, so I don’t think there were historic buildings like on the Puxi (side I was walking on) side.
Thanks for letting me know what Rosh Hashanah will be like in the US. I’m glad you’ll still get to hear the sound of the shofar! It’s one of my highlights as well. I hope that you and Lisa have a wonderful Rosh Hashanah! L’Shana Tova!
Jesse,
What a wonderful post! I am so glad to hear how full and balanced your life is. You are being productive as a researcher and finding time to exercise, engage in activities with friends, and maintain your spiritual Jewish life. And you are doing things you never did before like improv games and yoga! And you have a wonderful group of friends, too.
I loved seeing the pictures of Shanghai in bloom! Thank you for allowing us to experience new parts of your beautiful city with us. It is hard to believe you have been in China for almost a year. Last Rosh Hashanah we were all together as a family, and then you arrived in Shanghai. May the new year be a good one for us all and our world. May the pandemic end soon, so you may come home for a visit, knowing you can return to Shanghai.
L’Shana Tova!
Love,
Mom
Thanks Mom! I’m glad that I’ve been able to find a good balance. Hopefully I can keep that going forward. Thanks! I’m very happy with my friend group here in Shanghai as well!
I completely agree with you that it’s hard to believe that I’ve been in Shanghai for almost 1 year. It’s been a good year, but with covid-19 also a very strange year. Hopefully this next year will be better for the world overall and I’ll get to see you in person! I hope that you, Dad, and Emmet still have a meaningful Rosh Hashanah! L’Shanah Tova!
Great post, Jesse. Glad to hear you are able to run and get together with friends and community for things like “yoga + havdalah.” Shira, Ruhi, and family are struggling with air quality in Eugene and have been confined indoors for almost a week; they are hoping for relief in a couple of days.
I looked at the Kehilat Shanghai website and there you are! (As well as a shout-out to your home synagogue.)
Hope you have a wonderful High Holy Day season!
Rabbi Jonathan
Hi Rabbi Jonathan! Great to hear from you! I hope that the situation improves for Shira and Ruhi, and family in Oregon soon. I’m sure that must be concerning. I’m glad to hear that you checked out the Kehilat Shanghai website. It’s a really nice Jewish community of ex-pats here! I hope that you and Rabbi Linda have a wonderful High Holy Day season as well! Hopefully all the virtual services will go well! L’Shana Tova!