I have thought exactly like you too before I moved to Shanghai... to be honest, I never been there before and I just took the job and flew to China. Smart or Dumb? Maybe both? But one thing is for sure... I thought it would be... but no... I was totally wrong.
Shanghai is like living in the future... lots of foreigners get together speak German, French, English and also speaks good Chinese! Everything is a lot more advanced and its moving so fact that you need to catch up to the rapid changes happening. Its very dynamic if you like that type of lifestyle. :)
It sounds like Shanghai is modern-day America filled with diverse ethnicity and which makes it more dynamic. Please keep giving us more content about Shanghai cause for sure I'm so interested.