According to the Great Circle Mapper:

http://gc.kl s2.com/cgi-bin/gc?PATH=sfo-fra-blr-sin-pvg-sfo&RANGE=&PATH-COLOR=&PATH-UNITS=mi&SPEED-GROUND=&SPEED-UNITS=kts&RANGE-STYLE=best&RANGE-COLOR=&MAP-STYLE=

This itinerary covers 20792 miles, well under the 29000 allowed for a bass level RTW. You can easily add more destinations along the way. You can also do a few domestic trips in the US, as long as you don't have two stoppovers in any one city, including the Bay Area.

If you start out of YVR, instead of SFO, with the following routing:

YVR-FRA-BLR (on LH)
BLR-SIN-PVG (on SQ)
PVG-YVR (AC)
or
PVG-ICN-YVR (OZ and AC or SQ)
or
PVG-NRT-YVR (NH and AC)

this would total about 19582 (a few hundred more if you connect) miles, and you can get a Star Light fare, which allows up to 20000 miles. The fares ex canada are much less expensive. And all you would need to do is buy a cheap roundtrip from SFO to YVR to connect to and from.

[This message has been edited by zrs70 (edited 09-20-2003).]