I vote for gigantic maps too, in any civ games. Is it just my imagination or are there a whole lot more lions and gators in RoR. It seems every time i try to scout for the enemy early with a peon, he gets eaten by some of the wildlife. In fact, its gotten so bad that I've started sending them out in 2 man teams. So I usually wait til I hit the tool button before searching. That means that I often don't find him/them by the time I need to build that first arch range.
The only times I've really been slaughtered by Shang is when I'm right next door to them. Especially if I'm villager/boat booming and they are doing a simple land food tool.