I'm just saying, when it comes to booking travel in china from abroad, there are few options other than paying int'l prices (which are a rip-off compared to what it costs to purchase the exact same thing domestically), or through a chinese company (which unless you have a relationship with them somehow also won't hesitate to rip you off). If you want to do nothing more than some independent recearch on costs, elong, along with ctrip, and (very few) others aren't too bad to use, and I've heard stories of success with purchasing as well.

I personally haven't purchased anything online for travel in China, (living in china I can just walk down the street to a travel office and give them cash and have a receipt, the Chinese are fond of paperwork) but I can use those sites to get an idea of what I want and how much its going to cost me (or should cost me).