Almost all the facts are correct.

About water, as one reader commented above, Chinese people usually boil water before drink. That’s a traditional cultural thing, even in the remote villages where the water is clean and by all means free from industrial pollution. So you can asked for free boiled water in “every” restaurant, including the western style cafes. Just say “Kai Shui”(boiled water). When we Chinese travel aboard, we often find it’s strange that some hotels do not provide boiled water.

By the way, I am in Shanghai. Welcome here.

For food, I like to go order two entrees and eat the one I like. Wasteful? Sure. Expensive? Nope. You’ll usually enjoy one of the dishes but not both.

“sheh-shya”. Thank you.

First word I learned in chinese.

When a waiter is refilling your drink, tap the table twice with your index and middle finger to say “thank you, that’s enough”.

And while you should know how to use chopsticks, starting now is probably not long to learn properly… but it’s still a good idea.

(And I would not drink tap water that hasn’t been boiled. People I knew who grew up there would rather drink hot water if they didn’t want tea.)