Well I’m finally here, Beijing. I have some pictures I want to post but first want to share a pic of the hostel I’m staying in. Needless to say, I’m moving to another hostel. On the bright side, there are lots of Chinese students staying here so I have more than enough opportunities to practice Chinese.
I’m in Qingdao now for about a week visiting a friend and visiting some scenic spots. The weather is a lot cooler here compared to Shanghai and it feels a lot less crowded.
Once the Ohel Moshe Synagogue (one of two only synagogues left in Shanghai), the Shanghai Jewish Refugee Museum is a great place to learn about the Jews that lived in Shanghai from the early 1900s up until the mid 1900s. Pictures inside the museum depict the lifestyle of the Jews and how they flourished by opening businesses, schools, and building strong relations with the local Chinese.
Outside of the museum are the old homes that most of the Jews lived in and now occupied by Shanghai residents.
The picture of names includes all the Levys which lived in Shanghai.
Just like Rosh Hashanah, I spent Yom Kippur with Chabad in Shanghai but this time services were held in the Ohel Rachel Synagogue which is the last standing synagogue in Shanghai still in use (limited use since the Chinese Government only allows Chabad to use the Synagogue a couple times throughout the year).
Ohel Rachel was founded in 1920 and was the synagogue for three waves of Jews, first Baghdadi, then Russian, and later European; until the the war ended in 1945 and the founding of the PRC in 1949.
During the pre-fast meal I sat with a couple from Israel who moved here for work and have raised two kids that can speak both Chinese and Hebrew. Moshe (the husband) said that their older daughter sometimes mixes Chinese with Hebrew and will say 我要 מים, I want water.
Went to Chabad in Shanghai for both days of Rosh Hashanah and while I knew the whole service would be in Hebrew and that men and women pray separately, one tradition I had not experienced was the bidding of aliyahs which started at $200 (USD, not RMB) and went as high as $1200 USD.
Following the service was a wonderful lunch where I had a chance to meet the Rabbi and other congregants.
Oh yea..please check out my shofar website www.ishofar.com and iPhone app.
Went to a friends house for diner and had fish braised in soy sauce, tomato and radish, curry chicken and potatoes, and other various vegetable dishes. The fish came from a market where we had to select from a pool of live fish then upon selecting the perfect fish, the fish was killed and scaled in front of us…or so I thought. While picking out the vegetables I was startled by the fish trying to jump out of the bag. I guess he didn’t want to be eaten 
After visiting the Israel consulate 3 times (first time was to find the place and make sure I could even get a visa to Israel in China, second time was to bring my paperwork, third time was to bring my paperwork back with a proper signature) I finally got my visa to Israel today!
Each time I returned to the consulate the security guard would make fun of my backpack full of stuff which I called my “office”. I was actually notified end of last week that my visa was ready but couldn’t pick it up until today. I was given a 1 year multiple entry visa but I’m only allowed to stay in Israel for 4 months at a time which is enough time for the Hebrew program with a little extra time to travel/hang out/etc.
On Passover we say “next year in Jerusalem” but for me it’s “next month in Jerusalem”!
For the first 5 days while in Shanghai I was staying at my friend Nate’s place, whom I met while I was studying at BNU the first time I was in China. The first night in Shanghai Nate took me out for a beer so we could catch up on what both of us had been doing since I left China. Nate actually never left China (other then to visit home during the holidays) so he’s been here for almost 8 years and is currently working at a market research company.
The following day I met up with my friend YanYan whom I met the first time I was in Shanghai back in 2007. It’s kinda funny how we met, I had just finished dinner and needed to find an Internet cafe to update my blog and check email. I noticed her walking on the street towards me and decided to ask her if she knew where one was. YanYan was not only nice enough tell me where an Internet cafe was, she also walked me there incase I didn’t understand her directions. Not even 10 minutes after sitting at my computer she came back and asked for my QQ number so we could keep in touch (QQ is a very popular chat app used in China developed by Tencent, one of China’s largest software companies).
We spent some time on the bund walking around looking at the old buildings on the Puxi side and the new buildings on the Pudong side. To my surprise we had also ended up at one of the Apple stores that I had always wanted to visit ever since I had seen it during one of the WWDC keynotes (Apple always starts their keynotes showing Apple stores around the world). Unlike most Apple stores where the entrance is at the same level as the store, this one must be entered by walking down a spiral staircase which is covered by a large cylinder with the Apple logo hanging from the top.
One of the Apple stores in Shanghai
Shanghai Tower
My friend YanYan whom I met the first time I was in Shanghai
Snoopy display near Pearl Tower, not sure why this was here..
I’ll be staying here for a few weeks visiting some friends and trying to get some work down.
View from Puxi
Pearl Tower