I learned about its latest advancements while riding in a self-driving internet car after speaking with Bao Anrong, a worker who assembled the country's first Volkswagen Santana in the 1980s. It was a milestone at the time.

There was a saying in China then: "You can easily travel around the world in a Santana."

In 1985, a Volkswagen Santana could cost upward of 200,000 yuan, or $30,000. That was an incredible amount for an ordinary Chinese. Bikes were status symbols, and few people could imagine owning a car.

"We domestically produced only three parts when we started our assembly line－tires, radios and antennae," Bao recalls.

"Gradually, we started making more parts－glass, paint, bumper beams, seats and dashboards. It took us three months to produce our first Santana. That's a long time."

Today, the factory where Bao worked－that is, where I was almost hit by the robot－produces about 650 cars a day.

And China now manufactures nearly all of its own automobile parts.

But other aspects of how the reform and opening-up have transformed how people in and around Shanghai get from Point A to Point B became apparent when I visited the country's largest car-production base, Shanghai International Automobile City.