I know my main question has been asked and very helpfully answered a number of times on this thread, but since things can change and since my routing involves HKG and AA travel, I'll nevertheless post this request for advice.

I am a US passport holder.

In March, I may well travel on AA SFO-ORD(or another AA hub)-PVG and back. I would sandwich within that trip and as a separate ticket on CX PVG-HKG-MNL and back. Depending on the schedule, my time in PVG could be as little as several hours, but to be on the safe side to avoid misconnects I'll likely overnight in PVG, probably staying less than 24 hours and certainly less than 48.

So my questions:

1. Am I correct in assuming that I won't need a visa?
2. More to the point, any complications in that my flight to and from PVG is HKG (though final destination and origin is MNL, with just a quick transit in HKG)?
3. Given the reports of AA occasionally causing problems if a passenger does not have a China visa, what is the best documentation to bring with me to the airport. The print-out from the Chinese Embassy site saying that TWOV is permitted for certain nationalities (including USA) through PVG if staying less than 48 hours? Anything else?

(FWIW, the reason for this crazy itinerary is that it is the cheapest way for me to fly OW carriers all the way to MNL in J, via a combination of AA upgrades and a relatively inexpensive CX ticket. Plus there's a bit of an MR aspect to it.)

Thanks for any help!