LOL. I was thinking the same thing.

But going back to the "lessons learned"... let's be honest. Most of those are common sense when travelling in ANY country. And Shanghai pollution is NOTHING compared to Beijing.

Summer is a bad time to go ANY tourist destination, anywhere in the world. Try going to Hollywood, New York, Orlando, or similar places in the summer, it really isn't much better. Kids are out of school and families travel. Common sense. Going to or even near the general region of the most populated country in the world is asking to suffer. Once again, common sense. The "shady side streets" in major cities in China are nowhere near as dangerous as similar places in Western countries. There's far less violent crime in places like Shanghai and Beijing... they're more focused on con jobs and selling counterfeit luxury items than violent crime. More profitable and minimal trouble with law enforcement.

Oh and those strangers offering you rides... Haha. They're called "black taxis", basically illegal taxi operations. While I wouldn't hop on them if I were a single woman, I'm male so I've used them many a time. Never had a problem. Once again, more profitable and less trouble with law enforcement than actually robbing or even harming you.

Now bear in mind, this is for major cities only. Outside the big cities it can be the Wild Wild East. There are certain areas well known for just being generally violent.