Hi Everyone! Welcome back to Astronomer in Shanghai! I hope that all of you continue to stay safe and healthy. For those of you who are in academia, I hope that the start of the 2nd semester is going well, too. Additionally, for those of you who celebrated the Lunar New Year, I hope that you had a wonderful celebration with friends and family! In this latest entry, I’ll share with you updates from my celebrations of the Lunar New Year and Lantern Festival as well as many of the other fun things I did in the past month.
As I’m sure you’re all aware, with the Olympics wrapping up in Beijing, the world’s eyes have been watching China closely for the last few weeks. Thankfully, the covid-19 situation in China has remained under control (likely due to the swift and strict actions and policies implemented by the government). While there have been a few minor outbreaks, they have been contained. The same can’t be said for Hong Kong, where cases are currently exploding. On a more positive note, foreigners in Shanghai were finally able to get their booster shot! So, about 3 weeks ago, I got my third shot of the SinoVac covid-19 vaccine. I actually ran into some of my friends from Kehilat when I was getting my shot, so lots of us were anxious to get boosted. For those of you who are eligible, I hope that you have also been vaccinated and gotten your booster shots.
Even though Beijing is not that close to Shanghai (if it was, I’d visit Emmet a lot more), you could still tell that the Winter Olympics were happening because in addition to all the Lunar New Year’s decorations, there were plenty of signs with Bing Dwen Dwen, the panda mascot, around Shanghai! While it’s disappointing to not get to go to the Olympics, it has been fun watching the CCTV coverage of the games!
Astronomy in Shanghai
As I noted in my last post, the semester ended in the middle of January, so this was a little bit lighter work month as I took some time off to rest and recharge my batteries for the semester and summer ahead. In terms of research news, my DES paper on the Stellar Mass – Halo Mass relation was officially accepted for publication in ApJ!!! I’ve been working on this project with my Ph.D. supervisor, Chris, and my collaborator Yuanyuan, for about 2.5 years and am thrilled to finally have it accepted and to have wrapped it up! I finished the copy edits about 1.5 weeks ago, so it should be published soon. Once it’s published, I’ll post the link here to share with you! 🙂
Additionally, I’ve made some real substantial progress on Project Population, my Luminosity Function analysis. I’ve transitioned back to the observational data (Yay!) and have the projected correction (what I was working on in the mock) applied to the observations. Hopefully, we’ll transition to the SDSS-redMaPPer data in the coming weeks.
For Project Proxy, the halo mass proxy analysis, I’ve implemented a Bayesian model (a statistical model that is the backbone of almost all my research) to measure the halo mass and concentration associated with each sample. There’s a few more parameters to incorporate, but this project is back moving forward, which is great.
For Project Outskirts, the Intra-Cluster Light analysis, I have ~2/3 of the draft of the paper written (most of the science is done). We have some really interesting results relating to both the color of the ICL and the slope/scatter associated with the stellar mass halo mass relation. There’s not many studies that have done this with the ICL, Yuanyuan and I are excited by a lot of what we’re finding. The goal is to have the draft of this paper submitted to DES sometime this spring.
Lastly, I’m just getting started on my DESI projects. While I don’t have much to share on that end, I’m hoping to invest more time in those in the coming weeks, so hopefully I’ll have more to share with you soon.
Life in Shanghai
As you can tell from above, even during a “vacation” month, I still spent a lot of time doing work. However, I also did a lot of fun things this month. 🙂
The Lunar New Year was at the beginning of February, while I unfortunately did not make any dumplings this year, hopefully next year, my friend Ha hosted a wonderful Hot Pot party followed by games! For those of you unfamiliar with hot pot, you cook tofu and vegetables (and usually meat) in a soup broth and then eat what you’ve cooked with a dipping sauce. Special thanks to Ha for providing me with my own personal vegan hot pot, mushroom soup base, and tons of delicious tofu and veggies for me to eat! You can also see the strawberry cake that I made for the party (I thought the red strawberries gave a nice touch for the Lunar New Year, since red is commonly used color)! :))
While I still don’t really know what I’m doing when I’m putting my hot pot together (only potatoes, corn, or lotus need to be cooked long), it was still a fun and tasty way to start celebrating the Lunar New Year.
My favorite part of the Lunar New Year is seeing all the decorations that are hung up around the city. With this being the Year of the Tiger, there were plenty of cool tiger decorations as well as the always lovely standard red lanterns!
In addition to my hot pot party, my friend Clem hosted a lovely vegan new year’s party! As you can see, it was quite the feast! We had vegan chili, vegan black bean burgers and guacamole, pasta salad, lentil dal, and sweet potato curry! I also made some delicious vegan cookies (apple pie cookies, chocolate peppermint cookies, and the Lunchroom’s Monster Cookies!) It was such a fantastic meal and great to celebrate with delicious food and friends again!
Perhaps the most special highlight of this month was making strawberry jam. For those of you confused, it’s actually strawberry season in China! While I’ve made jam a lot in the past, this time, I was joined by my Mom on FaceTime!! As many (if not all) of you know, my Mom is a prolific jam maker. She makes the most delicious jam in so many unique and interesting flavors. While it wasn’t the same as making it together, it was so nice to have her talk me through the different steps, check the consistency of my jam, and make sure that I kept the timing right.
As a result, the jam came out fantastically! I think it’s by far the best jam I’ve ever made in Shanghai! Much thanks goes to my Mom for really emphasizing the timing with regards to boiling the fruit and pectin. She’s got it down to a science! Plus, it was really special to spend some time with my Mom doing something we both enjoy! Hopefully we’ll get to make jam together in person soon, but if not, we’ll definitely do it on FaceTime again!
Moreover, though I wasn’t able to get enough to even consider making jam, I was able to get white strawberries again this year! I know my Mom got some this year as well, so if you see them, you should definitely try them!
One of the other things that my Mom has really missed since I’ve been in Shanghai is sending me packages for different holidays. Well in January, my Mom figured out how to order things on Baopals (the Taobao website that takes paypal). So, for the first time in over 2 years (not counting what Emmet brought me), I got a gift from my Mom! This was a combination Lunar New Year’s and Valentine’s day gift!
As you can see, the Hershey’s kisses were packaged quite differently here! That said, it was so nice getting a gift from my Mom! I’m so glad that my parents figured out how to do this!
Despite all the amazing food and food related activities, I’ve still made plenty of time for exercise this month. I’s still pretty warm in Shanghai (40s-50s most days), so, I’ve been running 2-3 times per week and going to F45 HIIT classes on the other days. 🙂
Two weeks afer the Lunar New Year is the Lantern Festival! As part of that, I visited the Yu Guardens (Yuyuan) to see the lanterns and light display that they set up! I went last year, and it was even more amazing this year than I remembered!
I love the way the Yu Gardens look lit up! They remind me of the opening scene in Spirited Away. There’s just something magical about all the lights and colors. Plus, I loved seeing all the different lanterns! While I love the traditional red ball lanterns, I really enjoyed the look of the yellow and blue lanterns. Also, I don’t know if I noticed it last year, but it was cool seeing people dressed up in traditional attire carrying more traditional paper lanterns!
One of my favorite parts was the massive Year of the Tiger display! I loved that the little tigers on the side were dressed as Taikonauts! You can see them in the front of display as well as the Chinese Space Station (which will have a telescope and an observational survey that Ying is involved in, and hopefully I’ll get to do some stuff with, too) and an example of the rocket used to send the Taikonauts to space. I’m not 100% sure why the Taikonaut theme was included, but it might be because this year is the first time Taikonauts have celebrated the Lunar New Year in Space! Regardless, it’s really cool to see how popular space and Astronomy is here in China!
Additionally, some of you may recall that I bought a lantern last year, well I did it again and have it hanging in my bedroom! I also got one to give to Emmet the next time I see him!
One of the other highlights of this past month, was two visits by Solo! He stayed with me for ~ 3 weeks, so lots of time to take cute photos! Many of you asked, and Solo is a mix of a British short hair and an American long hair cat, making him very adorable!
As you can see, it’s a lot of fun having Solo around. From visiting me when I’m brushing my teeth, to jumping on my bed in the middle of the night, to jumping on top of my refrigerator, to attacking my feet in the shower (when they stick out from under the shower curtain), it’s always entertaining to have him visit me!
In addition to Solo, I also saw some other cute animals, including my favorite dog, Pina (at Ilan’s birthday party) and a cute neighborhood cat!
In addition to cute animals, I saw a lot of other cool things out and about in Shanghai, including some cool anime and comics figures and a Demon Slayer advertisement in front of a watch store!
What I’m Reading and Watching
Unsurprisingly I’ve been watching a lot of live sports this month. Over the last two weeks, that’s been a lot of the Olympics, particularly the snowboarding and skiing. I’ve really enjoyed the Olympics. There have been a lot of great performances and events and the opening ceremony was lovely! In addition to the Olympics, I think I spent the most time watching the Australian Open (tennis) this month. As many of you know, I’m a huge fan of Rafael Nadal. One of my favorite parts about living in Shanghai is getting to watch the Australian Open when it’s happening (though the rest of the grand slams are at much more frustrating times). I was thrilled to see Rafa come back from his foot injury to conquer the field and win his 21st grand slam!!! It was an amazing final between Rafa and Daniil Medvedev! Rafa showed the true heart of a warrior and a champion, never giving up even when he was down the two sets to love! I’m already looking forward to watching Rafa during the clay court swing. In my opinion, this win, giving him two career grand slams, and the most majors of all time solidifies Rafa as the GOAT!
I also watched the Super Bowl. Over the years, I’ve followed football less and less (the violence, head injuries, and racially problematic issues have driven me away from the sport, as has the times it’s on in China). That said, it’s still weird eating breakfast during the Super Bowl. In terms of other things that I’m watching, Jeopardy is perhaps the show I’ve missed watching the most (syndicated Jeopardy is not available for streaming), so I’ve really been enjoying watching the Prime Time Jeopardy College Championships!
In terms of reading, aside from the many fantastic comics, manga, and graphic novels that I read, I finished two excellent books the month. The first was American Gods by Neil Gaiman and the 2nd was The Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin. More of you are probably familiar with Gaiman’s epic, since it has been adapted as a TV show. If you haven’t read it, or the great comic adaptation, I highly recommend it. It’s a wonderful blend of myth and fantasy that also discusses at it’s core what America is. Even though it’s quite long, it’s definitely worth the read! The Three Body Problem is perhaps the best example of modern Chinese Science Fiction (I read the translated version). I don’t want to spoil much, but it paints a really fascinating history of China during the cultural revolution and its aftermath and also imagines a grounded and interesting modern future! I definitely recommend it and am I’m looking forward to reading the next two books in the series!
Jewish Life in Shanghai
As usual, this month was also filled with many Kehilat Shanghai activities. While I unfortunately don’t have any pictures, we had a lovely family Shabbat gathering right before the Lunar New Year. Additionally, we had an Olympics themed Community Shabbat, where I got to lead the Shabbat service and my friend Alex gave a D’var commenting on the themes/goals of the Olympics. Afterwards, we even watched the Olympics! Additionally, we had another fantastic trivia night, it was our Connections Pentathlon, which everyone enjoyed! I got to write 3 connections rounds, which are given below! Even at the busy times of the year (in terms of Chinese holidays), it’s really nice to have the consistency and friendship of the Kehilat Community!
I hope that all of you enjoyed seeing the beautiful lanterns and tiger displays from the Yu Gardens as well as the many adorable photos of Solo! I hope that all of you have a great and productive month and continue to stay safe and healthy!
In peace,
Jesse
Trivia
Round 1
1). This legendary creature is the combination of a lion, and an eagle.
2). This cartoon cat from the silent film era was one of the first cartoon characters to gain mass appeal.
3). This long-running NBC (1984-1992) sitcom told of the cases presided over by the unorthodox Judge Harold “Harry” T. Stone.
4). The Prime Minister of the UK whose inaction lead to WWII
5). Harper Lee’s best selling novel follows this family
6). On January 1st of 1868, this Japanese city was opened to foreign trade by the Bakufu government.
7). This 1989 novel focuses on four Chinese-American immigrant families who start a mahjong club.
8). These were first issued by the US government in 1917 to help fund the US’s participation in WWI.
9). This 2017 movie tells the story of a 17 year old growing up in Sacramento California
10). What is the Connection
Answers: 1). Griffin 2). Felix the Cat 3). Night Court 4). Neville Chamberlain 5). The Finch Family 6). Osaka 7). The Joy Luck Club 8). War or Liberty Bonds 9). War or Liberty Bonds 10). Famous Athletes
Round 2
1). Name this 2006 Oscar winning movie starring Matt Dillon.
2). This 4th album by The Doors features the songs “Tell all the People,” “Touch Me,” and the titular track
3). This series of books by Stephen King tells the story of a gunslinger and his quest
4). Lamont Cranston is the secret identity of this original “all knowing” pulp hero?
5). This novel by Agatha Christie features a traveling Hercule Poirot?
6). This ceremony serves as the start of the academic year for most colleges and Universities
7). This novel by Jane Austin follows the life of Elizabeth Bennett
8). This disorder occurs when the majority of worker bees disappear and leave behind a queen
9). The Japanese Diet is an example of this type of government
10). What is the Connection
Answers: 1). Crash 2). The Soft Parade 3). The Dark Tower 4). The Shadow 5). Murder on the Orient Express 6). Convocation 7). Pride and Prejudice 8). Colony Collapse Disorder 9). Parliament 10). Groupings of Animals
Round 3
1). This chemist is the only person to ever be awarded two undivided Nobel Prizes?
2). Though this type of light is invisible to the human eye, humans still use it in Astronomy and medical practices. However, some insects, like bumblebees can also see it.
3). This actress starred in the TV show Medium and won an academy award for the movie Boyhood
4). This inspiration to the Beatles who wrote songs including Roll Over Beethoven and Johnny B. Goode.
5). Once a TV show reaches syndication, it can be sold to other networks allowing for this type of broadcast to occur
6). She was known as the “Queen of Soul”
7). This 2014 Luc Besson science fiction film about a woman who gains psychokinetic abilities
8). The first American woman in space
9). Max Yasgur’s dairy fam hosted this festival
10). What is the Connection?
Answers 1). Linus Pauling 2). Ultraviolet 3). Patricia Arquette 4). Chuck Berry 5). Rerun 6). Aretha Franklin 7). Lucy 8). Sally Ride 9). Woodstock 10). Peanut’s Characters
Hi Jesse,
I’m so glad that you had a fun and productive month over your Lunar New Year break! You certainly did a lot! Congratulations on your paper being accepted! I can’t wait to see it in the ADS e-mail! I’m glad you’re making lots of headway on your other projects and that’s great that you almost have a draft of the ICL paper done. I need to do a better job of multi-tasking for my projects. I tend to get too bogged down on any one project. I loved seeing all of the Tiger displays for the New Years! I feel like you saw more displays, while I saw a lot of signs. Your hot pot lunch looks and sounds amazing! I also struggle with how to make the right blend in my bowl, but it’s still quite fun! The vegan New Years celebration looked awesome, too! I can’t wait to try your jam. Please save me a couple of jars. It looks amazing! And wow, am I envious of the Lantern festival at the Yu Gardens! That is amazing! I love seeing both the traditional and the giant lantern displays. Thank you for pointing out the taikonaut, I think I might have missed them if you hadn’t seen them (those would be a cute figurine to get if you ever saw one). When I was at the Forbidden City, Richard and I saw people in traditional Chinese dress too, so maybe it’s like a cosplay thing to go as one would in the past (or at least get cool photos). I love all of the pictures of Solo! Especially him on the refrigerator and the action shots of him yawning. It looks like you did see those same Batman mini-lego(esque) figures, I’m glad I got them! I’m glad that trivia and Shabbats have been fun, too! I loved getting to test out the questions! I hope you have a great start to your Spring Semester and that you continue to remain productive. Stay safe and healthy! And hopefully I’ll get to see you in person soon!
Love,
Emmet
Thanks Emmet! I’m definitely planning to repost in on arxiv when I get the finalized version! 🙂 It took me a long time to get accustomed to working on projects, but I’m starting to get the hang of it now. Happy to chat about how I mange that.
I’m so glad that you liked seeing all the Tigers and the Lunar New Year’s displays! I’m glad that I noticed the Taikonaut’s too! That was a great detail! I’ll definitely keep my eyes out for a Tiger Taikonaut figure! You could be right about the traditional dress. The Yu Gardens is one of the few places you could do that in Shanghai. Also, I’ll definitely save you 3 jars for when I see you next! Thanks for getting me the Batman Legos!
I hope that you also have a productive, safe, and healthy start to the spring semester! Hope to visit you soon!
Dear Jesse,
It is always a treat to wake up to one of your blog entries on a Sunday morning. This blog entry was a visual delight. I know that you have shared some of your photos from the Lunar New Year festival and the Lantern Festival, but seeing them all together on a large computer screen really showed me the vibrant colors and arrangements that make these festivals quite unlike anything I have ever seen. I learn so much from your blog about Chinese culture. Other blog highlights for me were photos of the tiger Taikonauts, the Olympic Mascot Bing Dwen Dwen (what a cute panda!), and Solo looking absolutely adorable as usual.
I am delighted, of course, to see the many stages of our global jam making adventure from the first stirring of the pot to the finished product. This experience was also a highlight for me. I am so happy to share the science of jam making with my son the scientist! I am now in the midst of marmalade making since strawberries are not in season for some time here, but I thank you for alerting me to the white strawberries, marketed here as pineberries–very tasty. And I cannot emphasize enough how very much I enjoyed being able to navigate Baopals to send you and Emmet a joint Luna New Year/Valentine’s Day gift. The flowers and cards you sent warmed by heart and made my day.
The semester is going well here. Research wise, I am participating in a Viva for the University of Exeter in the UK, serving as the External Reviewer, so that will be a new experience for me. Luckily there is only a 5-hour time difference, so it will be held tomorrow at 10:30 AM my time which is 3:30 PM UK time. I am enjoying my classes as well. It has been bitterly cold with lots of ice this winter, so I am envious of your weather!
Before I sign off, let me say it warms my heart to hear how successful you are being with the many astronomy projects you are working on. Congratulations on your paper’s acceptance to Apj! And how exciting that other projects are coming close to the submission stage. Which is the project you are working on with the folks in California?
Stay well and safe, and how great to know that you are now boostered.
I love you and miss you,
Mom
Thanks Mom! I’m so glad that you enjoyed this entry! I’m so glad the photos captured the Lantern Festival well! And Bing Dwen Dwen is cute, I’m glad Emmet got me a statue of him!
It was so much fun making jam together! I’m so glad that we got to do it together! I’m glad you enjoyed the white strawberries, too!
I’m glad to hear that your semester is going well. That’s cool that you’re doing the review at Exeter. While I’m sure it’d be fun to get to visit, it’s an honor to be asked.
Thanks for the congratulations on my DES paper! The projects with the collaborators in California is the DESI project I’m just getting started up.
Hope you have a safe and healthy month!
Wow! Great news that your paper was accepted for publication in April. The feeling must be quite thrilling in part to get a paper accepted and in part because your work will be shared with a wider audience which might then cite your findings or approach in their work.
Gotta say that it must have been lovely to make jam with your mother on-line. I’ve made jam only a couple of times and my knowledge is absolutely not scientific. Temperatures and times and the ability to make use of naturally occurring pectin or whether I need to add pectin – and if so how much, is all a mystery to me… BUT this summer , I plan to spend some serious time developing my jam making skills.
Those yellow and blue lanterns: I wonder if those colors have any significance. Red is good fortune, is it not? And yellow? Or Blue? They are quite lovely but do they have any meaning?
Don’t know if you are baking your own bread but this last week I made something called rejuvelac which is water soured with lactic bacteria from sprouting grains (in my case winter wheat berry) and then soaking the sprouts in water for three days. This was a popular drink (they say) in the 60’s but I thought to use it to make a version of sour dough (I added the yeast to the dough but used this liquid in place of the water I would normally use. The bread rose light a dream and tasted incredible.
Take care and stay safe
Bernard
Thank you Bernard! I was thrilled to get the acceptance e-mail! Also, It was fantastic to make the jam with my Mom on the line! Since you’re interested in making more jam, I would definitely talk to her, she’s made so many different kinds of jam that she’s been able to answer a lot of the questions about pectin and temperature for me! I’m sure she’d be happy to help you!
You are correct, red is the color of good fortune (and super common during the Lunar New Year)! That said, I’m honestly not sure what the blue and yellow symbolize. I’ll have to ask some of my friends to see if they have a meaning and let you know!
I have not had the opportunity to bake bread, though it is something I’d be interested in trying to do. Yours sounds lovely! Hope you have a safe and healthy month!
Glad to hear from you. You always sound busy and happy.
I am looking for Gaiman’s American Gods on books on tape. Also, I use the 3 planet problem in social architecture to describe straggles to establish stability in collaboration of 3 organization of unequal mass. Fun.
Hi Steve! Great to hear from you! I hope you can find American Gods to listen to! I really enjoyed it. It looks like there’s a lot of different versions, including some with full casts, which would be quite fun! And that’s a great use of the three body problem! 🙂 Hope you and Susan continue to stay safe and healthy! Go Blue!