Unfortunately, I am leaving out of HKG as well since I redeemed the award through AA and they don't have any other partners in China, so I have to leave out HKG. This is why I was going to do HKG to Beijing and then back to the south again. I am flying in Cathay First class for $55/person, so I couldn't pass it up at all and this is why I mentioned possbily going to Taiwan for 4 days because it is only 1 hour 40 minutes from Hong Kong. Shanghai is approximately 2.5 hours to Hong Kong by plane. The only problem with Shanghai is there really aren't many sites to see compared to the other cities, so that is why I was leaning towards Taipei. My good friend's family is from Taipei and he recommended me visiting there as it is a very vibrant city with plenty of action.