Shanghai update: Yesterday, in an NYU Shanghai faculty meeting (online, 94 people), leadership said that though data from Hubei may be uncertain, their Shanghai data is accurate and that coronavirus “peaked” two weeks ago with around 450 cases and is now around 150. Still walking and biking daily, I’m not surprised: when the Chinese government declares People’s War, there’s no dissent. Everyone wears a mask. All commercial establishments and apartment compounds have temperature checks and are constantly being cleaned. And I have no doubt that all comrades wash their hands several times a day (instructions are everywhere).

China’s grid-style social management, a pyramid with Xi at the top and neighborhoods broken down into 100 square meter cells, is both efficient for top-down directives and a disaster for critical information working its way from the bottom up, which led to so much tragedy in Hubei. My NYU Shanghai colleagues and I are plugged in to the activist social media community here (and yes we say it!), and I’ve interacted with several of my neighborhood cell party members, who are always kind and sincere.

Shanghai is still far from normal. Many public places - parks, museums, libraries, many restaurants, schools - are still closed. Curiously, most all of the giant malls with the Calvin Kleins, Huaweis, and Uniqlos, and supermarkets in the lower floor, are entirely open and largely (except for the supermarkets) empty of shoppers. Contrary to the US press, every Starbucks I’ve seen is open, as well as a surprising number of other coffee places. Groceries and supermarkets remain well-stocked and busy. Masks have become readily available.

It’s hard to gauge the numbers, but an incredible amount of people are simply staying home. There is no “lockdown” (a word CNN used at least once regarding Shanghai). Many people are working from home. Home internet here is mostly optical and high speed. I’ve had no problems with video meetings or classes.

My VR/AR Fundamentals class met yesterday for its second weekly three-hour session, with 11 students and our TA. The students are in Shanghai (3), elsewhere in China (4), and Vancouver, Texas, NYC, and London. (Remember, January was both Chinese New Year and NYU Shanghai’s off-month: well over half our students and faculty, who come from all over the world, were away when the virus hit.) The class went well, with a lot of presentation material and video, and with everyone up and on (we use Zoom). Our Interactive Media Arts group is comparing notes on our unique online challenges and collecting anecdotes, which so far are interesting enough that we’ll likely publish something.

Assuming the worst is over in Shanghai (yes, iffy), it’s now an incredible perch to watch the wave radiate across the globe. Yes, hugely needed vigilance. Shamelessly irresponsible, culturally insensitive, media sensationalism (they do know better, but hey, it’s business!). And the most revealing will be government action: the big guys are all now on the hot seat.

Good.

[Image: Untended plants on the promenade of the five-storey, five-block River Mall last Sunday (with dozens of shops and restaurants below open), in the shadow of the China Art Museum (closed).]