You wouldn't feel this way if you let Yao Ming tell you how Shanghai and China are. He has done several promotional commercials for the city of Shanghai shortly before his retirement. When I watched the World Cup I saw only the best side of Brazil for example. You have to look for places.
I honestly could not describe clubs in china any better then you did. I went to one a few months ago in Beijing and it was a pretty surreal experience compared to other clubs I've been to in cities.
No, it pretty much sucks. If you want excitement there are 20 other places to go. I will give the OP credit for being daring and open minded. I will also say this, I have stayed in less safe places. While China isn't nearly as safe as Western Europe, I never felt unsafe like in some other places.
Currently in Shanghai for a couple of weeks to take care of some business. Food is awesome - street vendors, family-owned restaurants, brand name chain stores, fancy restaurants. No safety issue whatsoever. Weather is hot and humid, typical Shanghai summer. Internet firewall sucks. Anything related to google gets blocked. Even my VPN connection doesn't work as well as before.
Forgot to mention I brought a BRITA pitcher and a couple of filters with me for the trip. I drink filtered tap water without boiling it. So far so good.
My wife lived in China for a few years in the early 90s, so these cultural tips come from her. Always refuse when something that is first offered to you, as sometimes people will offer you things they don't have assuming that you will refuse them. If they want you to have it, they will insist after you refuse at least twice. If you go drinking with your Chinese friends, you may find yourself in a situation where they are pouring you drinks. If you keep emptying your glass, they will continue to fill it. The only polite way to keep yourself from passing out during this situation is to leave your glass full when you are done drinking. Don't expect your students to want to participate in class. Chinese students are very deferential to their teachers. Teachers are expected to lecture and students listen. This may be a challenge when teaching a language. Be prepared to spend a lot of time working with your students on opening up in class. My wife also agreed that you should try to learn the language as quickly as possible. She also said that you will have a ton of fun! She wants to take me to China as soon as I'll let her. Other than the water, don't worry about the food so much. Businesses do not survive by poisoning their neighbors. Her rule in China was that she'd try a bite of anything offered to her before deciding if she liked it. Have fun!
My father in law has been living in China fire the last 7 years. Unfortunately, he said that young American males teaching English aren't highly thought of because the reputation is that they're just there to try to sleep with local girls. FWIW I highly recommend trying to visit Hangzhou and Suzhou while you're China, though.
I would have recommended reading "Riding the Iron Rooster" by Paul Theroux, about the author's travels through China by train for a year. Even if the travel happened in 1984 or so, it's very insightful. But, hell, the posts in this thread are excellent. Makes you wary and excited at the same time to visit the place.
I agree! China should do something about it. The Chinese girls are so loose and starving for attention from attractive men that word has gotten all the way to the USA and Western Europe. A really sad situation all the way around.
Thanks everyone for all the advice and links. Definitely a lot of solid pieces of advice! ...but why would I pay for something when I could get it for free? Yeah, I've found that already. It sucks, most people I've met have been pretty boring, I guess. I personally like to date girls who are independent, will have a beer and stuff with you, but a lot of girls here (from my brief encounters) seem very work and family orientated (which isn't a bad thing, but it is if it's only that). Most girls are impressed by the fact that I'm foreign, which makes most conversations feel pretty shallow. I'm sure there's some cool people, though. This place is huge and statistically there's got to be some awesome ladies somewhere. Man, I can really vision your whole post. Yeah, I think your advice about finding other people is what I'm going to do. Also, I would just like to thank everyone for taking the time out to post here and try and give me a bit of a leg up. I appreciate it.
http://www.amazon.com/Hey-Comrade-Pull-My-Finger-ebook/dp/B00LDTHCOE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405944554&sr=8-1&keywords=Texas+John The only book you need
