OP, chiming in here late so here we go:

1. Great job reading the sticky. Hope you found it useful

2. Don't arrive with cash (USD). Will do nothing but make you look more American and help you lose via exchange rate at the hotel. As others have said, bring your ATM card. Work fine all over China and you should have no issue where you're going.

3. With respect to the concern for your wife, in general if you stay with tour groups you'll be fine/safe or around your hotels and go to main areas. In some sense, unless you are Asian you won't be able to avoid folks coming up to you asking you to buy things. Tour groups (some) do run people through souvenir shops, but I haven't ever heard of one that forces you to buy anything

4. If you stay at western hotels with status as some discussion has been around, you'll be fine. Remember to utilize hotel staff who speak English and Chinese to help you.