Any ideas on how to get a discounted ticket on this route? The ticket could be purchased in China or in the US. The best fare I can come up with is in the $500 US range if I take advantage of split ticketing.

I used to fly SHA/PEK-SEL pretty regularly, and $500's not a bad price. OZ and KE also run package discounts directly from theith CTOs, which you might look into. When it's my money, however, I always use miles for intra-Asia travel.