Welcome to Astronomer in Shanghai! Thank you for following my blog and for your interest in my life and adventures in Shanghai! As covid-19 persists in the US and around the world, and you are (hopefully) continuing to wear masks when you go outside (even if you’re vaccinated), avoiding large gatherings, and social distancing, I hope that you are all staying safe and healthy and that my blog highlights what the world can look like once recovery begins. Once things improve, I hope you enjoy small gatherings with friends and family and outdoor activities. I’m sure you’ll find these interactions meaningful and enjoyable as I have.
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Life in Shanghai
I hope that this latest update continues to find all of you staying safe and healthy. Hopefully all of you have been able to either sign up to get vaccinated or have already been vaccinated. Additionally, despite the fact that I saw photos of snow in Saratoga on Facebook this week, I hope that the weather is starting to feel more and more like Spring wherever you are.
As I’ve talked about in many of my posts, I unfortunately feel the need to once again address the importance of Black Lives Matter. The recent murders by police officers of Daunte Wright and Adam Toledo, further emphasize and justify the need for a sweeping overhaul in how policing is done in the US. Reform may not be enough. Both young men (though Adam Toledo was really a child) were killed in what should have been non-violent interactions with the police. That these officers chose to escalate to deadly force (or even have that ability, to supposedly due so by accident, in the case of Daunte Wright) highlights that we need police officers who have more training in verbal communication and de-escalation tactics. These violent actions by police officers come as America (and the world) watches for the verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial. I hope that Chauvin is convicted for murdering George Floyd because it’s necessary to remind all Americans and police officers that they are not above the laws they claim to uphold. I hope that all of you can support your Black friends and neighbors and help make America a safer country. In my opinion, nobody is truly safe until everyone can feel feel the same level of safety. Black Lives Matter.
To transition back to covid-19, the situation remains under control in China. There are a few more local cases in Yunnan (Western China). However, in Shanghai, all the cases are imported cases. Unlike in the US, when people arrive in China, they are required to do a 14 day quarantine (in a hotel that they pay for). Every person is then tested and has their temperature monitored. This has been very effective in preventing the spread of covid-19 to the city’s populace. There are currently 57 cases in Shanghai and the recovery rate is 96.7%. In Beijing, there are only 10 cases and the recovery rate is 98.2%. For China as a whole, there are 529 active cases and the recovery rate is 94.78%. So, clearly these policies are working.
A few weeks ago, I mentioned that Shanghai opened up the covid-19 vaccination to foreigners. Thanks to lots of perseverance, I was able to snag one of the slots that opened up (the initial slots were taken incredibly quickly, so I was checking all the available clinics, you can only go in the district where you live — Xuhui– or work — Minhang). On Wednesday, I got my first of 2 covid-19 vaccination shots! The vaccine that I got is the Beijing Biological Vaccine. From what I was able to learn (and told by fellow ex-pats who could communicate better with the doctors), the vaccine has an efficacy rate of 79%. For those unfamiliar, this is not an mRNA vaccine, I believe that it’s more in live with the type of vaccine that Johnson & Johnson developed. I’ll get my next shot in 3 weeks. 🙂
The process was relatively simple. I arrived at the hospital and got in line to sign in (you have to give your passport number and sign forms). Then I paid RMB 100 (~$15), the government covers the cost for Chinese citizens). Then I got my vaccine (and they scheduled my next appointment) and then waited for 30 minutes. My only side effect was a little fatigue, but I’m not sure that wasn’t my normal afternoon fatigue. So, I strongly encourage all of you to also get vaccinated when possible.
For those of you who’ve never been to a Chinese hospital, they look pretty similar to US hospitals, even down to decorations to make kids more comfortable.
In terms of Astronomy, this was a very productive week! I’ve been spending a lot of time (basically the entire week) running analysis codes on the mock galaxy catalog that I generated. The catalog is gigantic (> 30 GBs) so everything takes a while to run. However, I should start to have some of my results this week! Using mocks and doing a lot of this analysis is new to me, so it’s both fun and frustrating when I encounter new challenges! But a lot of the frustration seems to be paying off! Additionally, I’ve continued to work on my project comparing different Halo Mass proxies and have put together most of the figures that we plan to use in this analysis, so I will probably work on writing this analysis up over the coming weeks! Additionally, I’ve continued to work on my analysis of the redshift evolution of the Intra-Cluster Light. We’re still figuring out some of the nuances of the different ways that we can analyze the data, but I’ve been busy at work making plots comparing these. So, firing on all cylinders research wise!
In terms of running, the weather has been really nice here! It’s not hot yet, mostly in the low 70s, so I was able to go for 4 runs this week! As usual, I made sure to take photos of lots of flowers that I saw!
In addition to the flowers, I also saw some cool storefronts.
As well as some friendly cats! The one on the left was especially friendly!
The main highlight of my week was going on a Black History Walking Tour of Shanghai. Hannah Maia, Clem, and I co-organized this as part of our anti-racism discussion series along with Patrick Cranley, who runs Historic Shanghai. Patrick seemingly knows everything about the history of Shanghai, from the architects who designed the older buildings, to their original owners, to the landmarks that are seemingly hidden in plain sight. Every time I go on one of the Historic Shanghai walks, I always learn a ton! Unsurprisingly, there is not a ton of Black History in Shanghai. Most of it, is related to the Former French Concession (the area where I live) during the 1920s-1930s. At the time, many Jazz musicians would come to play in Shanghai, where they would experience the same cultural freedoms that they would experience in France at that time. Sadly, the international Concession (separate from the French Concession) was not free from segregation, due to the strong influence from the Americans. Additionally, we learned about Langston Hughes’s trip to China, where he wrote the poem Roar China! as well as about different civil rights activists and leaders who would visit China in support of Mao in the 1970s. Of course, we also learned about much of the history of many of the other buildings in Xuhui as well!
Additionally, on Sunday, I went to the shopping district Tianzifang! Tianzifang is a cool lane neighborhood with tons of different shops and food stalls that’s ~ 1 mile from where I live. Some of the things are artisan, others are small shops selling trinkets, lots of them are selling tea. I visited about 1.5 years ago, but it was cool to be back and I’ll definitely go again!
As you can see, there’s a lot of really cool street art/graffiti as well!
Despite this being another quieter week, there was a lot of fun stuff for me to share with you all! This upcoming week I’m aiming to get a lot of work done, but I also have some fun things planned (including my 30th Birthday on Saturday!). So, I’ll definitely have some fun things to share with you!
I hope that you enjoy seeing all the photos I shared of Shanghai! I hope that this upcoming week is safe and healthy for all of you.
In peace,
Jesse
Hi Jesse,
Great to hear that you are vaccinated!
Loved seeing all the pictures..,
And the walking tour sounds great!
Glad your work is going well..,, and that you still have time to take pictures of the flowers!
Have a great week !
🌺♥️🌹xoxPam
Hi Aunt Pam! Thanks! So glad to hear you’re still enjoying the photos!
Hi Jesse,
I’m glad to hear you didn’t have too bad side effects after getting vaccinated and were able to get it in the first place (I really like the giraffe on the door!). I also appreciate your comments on police reform and violence against black people in the US. I’m hopeful that the verdict in the murder of George Floyd will show that Black Lives Matter and that police can’t be above the law. I’m glad that you’ve been so productive in your research! After spending much of the week normalizing my radio data, I envy that you can use a mock catalog for research. Fingers crossed that you finally hear back from the second DES referee soon. The Black history of Shanghai walking tour is also really interesting, especially about the different levels of freedoms in the different parts of Shanghai. There’s definitely some interesting north/south US parallels in the restrictions. I love how some of the buildings look like Art Deco from Batman the animated series. I also really love all the flowers, graffiti, and cats that you showed! Another Giraffe abs a slam dunk ad! Very cool! I’m glad that you had another great week! I hope you have a productive week this week! Stay safe and healthy!
Love,
Emmet
Hi Emmet! Thanks! I’m glad you liked the Giraffe, I knew you would. I hope that I get feedback from the 2nd referee soon as well. It was really interesting to learn about the different ways that the different parts of Shanghai were segregated, because that wasn’t something I had ever heard about before. I totally agree with you about all the Art Deco buildings! I knew you’ld like the slam dunk figure, too! Hope you have a safe, healthy, and productive week!
Great blog, Jesse. Quite fascinating.
First , let me wish you a very happy birthday and many , many happy returns of the day.
Cannot speak to the effects of the kind of vaccine you got but I got the Moderna vaccine and that does not use any viral material (as I understand it). It seems that those who experience any side effects experience them after the second dose more than after the first and it seems (but I do not know for certain) that this is because your body is able to respond to the activity the second dose creates but that does not explain why I and so many other people did not experience any untoward symptoms. (Lisa, my wife, did)..
Langston Hughes visited China and wrote at least one poem there… ? That is something I did not know.
I am fascinated by your research and wish I could better grasp what in fact your analysis is exploring. I understand that the red shift points to the speed (acceleration?) of stars and galaxies but what is not clear is what in fact you are trying to establish and how the “proxies” that are part of a model (?) can be used to determine what the proxies represent… (sorry for my questions and my ignorance).
Last point: just for the record, the synagogue I attend when I am in Riverdale in north Bronx) is helping or organize a vigil (in accordance with best Covid 19 practices) in support of BLM and against police violence which (according to a report this morning on NPR (WNYC) if the verdict at the Chauvin trial (Floyd’s death) is not one that finds him guilty there will be very serious trouble across the US).
Thanks Bernard! Thanks for the info about the Moderna vaccine. That was quite interesting. I didn’t realize that Langston Hughes had visited China either (it was part of a trip where he also visited Russia).
I’m always happy to answer any Astronomy related questions. Redshift is a way of telling how far away an object is (based on how the light from that object is shifted into a different, redder, wavelength). There is also redshift that is caused by the motion of objects as you mentioned. In terms of proxies, what I mean by this is that there are different observational methods of estimating the total mass of a galaxy cluster. Since these are not direct measurements (doing that is very difficult), we refer to these as proxies.
I’m glad to hear that your synagogue is doing a vigil to support BLM. I completely agree with you about what will happen if Chauvin is found innocent.
Hope you have a safe and healthy week!
Hi, Jesse.
I enjoyed reading this post and learning about more aspects of Shanghai, which seems like such a fascinating city. I felt as if I were on the Black History Walking Tour along with you. I remembered learning about the strong Jazz scene in the documentary called Shanghai Ghetto, though sadly no mention was made that the Black musicians were playing there. And I just looked up and read the Langston Hughes poem “Roar, China!” I learn so much from reading your blog.
Your Astronomy research is really progressing. I hope that the DES paper will soon advance to the larger group and on to ApJ, but so many other projects are happening, too. I am proud of the researcher you have become.
I enjoyed seeing the cats and the flowers. It is comforting to know that you have such friendly felines and beautiful flowers surrounding you. Please keep posting those pictures. We are not nearly as advanced in spring as you are, but when Lollie came over to see our garden (of course, masked and socially distant), she commented that our flowers are more advanced than hers even though she just lives 20 minutes away. We now have hyacinths, forsythia, daffodils, and crocuses growing. Lilacs are also beginning to bloom.
I wish we could be together to celebrate your birthday. I am making a vegan carrot cake for Emmet and wish you could have a slice, too. But I am grateful that we will be able to get together on Zoom and that we can talk on FaceTime regularly, too.
The semester is winding down. My students created another lovely virtual gallery on the Collaborative Organization for Virtual Education (COVE), and I will send you the link. One of my students won an English Department prize for a paper she wrote for my Brontes course last semester, so I felt happy about that, too. Less than three weeks left in the semester! I am planning a Zoom get together for my wonderful peer mentor Nicole, who is graduating.
Enjoy the final week of being in your 20s.
I love you,
Mom
Thanks Mom! I’m glad to hear that you enjoyed my description of the walking tour! I hope the DES paper will progress soon and will definitely keep you updated.
I knew that you would like seeing the photos of the cats and flowers! I’m glad to hear that your garden is starting to be in bloom as well! I hope that the recent snow didn’t impact anything.
I wish we could all celebrate Emmet and my birthday together! I’m also making a vegan carrot cake to celebrate! But, we will definitely celebrate on Zoom/Facetime!
I’m glad to hear that your semester is winding down. Congratulations to one of your students as well!
I hope that you have a safe and healthy week!
I love the pictures of flowers!! What lovely colors. And I’m glad you’re able to get runs in!! What are your typical running routes like? Do they have a lot of stoplights / heavy traffic areas, or are you able to find places a little more spread out to run?
Thanks Juliette! It’s great to hear from you! Hope you and Michael are doing well. My running routes vary. I have 2-3 that I tend to do each week though. Unfortunately, there are a lot of stoplights (not a lot of heavy traffic in the part of Shanghai where I live), but there are a few routes I do where I can run around the outskirts of Xujiahui park (~0.8 mile loop), so if I do a few laps around that, I can get a few miles in without interruption, which is nice!
Hope your staying safe and that we can catch up soon!
That’s how I always felt about Pasadena – it’s hard to NOT have stoplights. It’s much nicer in Ann Arbor. I have been running the same route recently (Industrial / Eisenhower / Main) a lot as well, because no one else seems to walk it so it’s always super empty!!
Hey Jesse!
I really enjoyed the flower pictures again this week. The wall painting cartoons were pretty cool too. I hope you have a great birthday next week!
Best,
Ryan
Thanks Ryan! Glad you liked the photos and found the wall art cool! Hope you have a safe and healthy week!
I’m curious, Jesse. Did you get a sense of who the people were who went on the Black History of Shanghai tour? What kind of people did it draw?
Hi Lisa! That’s a great question. This was part of the anti-racism discussion series that I’ve been co-organizing, so I can answer that. For most of our discussions (and for this event), the majority of attendees have been ex-pats, predominately American, but also some from France, Israel, South Africa, Argentina. We do have some Chinese attendees, as well. For this event, we had a few more Black attendees, and generally, each discussion has had a mix of people from different racial backgrounds (Asian, White, Black) as well.