A question for the many knowledgable people here.

I am traveling on a US passport for this one. I just bought a USA-HKG PEK-USA double open jaw r/t, and I need a visa. Visa office is no problem as I live in NYC. The ticket is uncommonly cheap, in the 3XX$ range. I am flying all segments, there are no 3xes or any of that. Will the cheapness of the ticket cause me problems applying for a visa? do I need to show the price? Will anyone care, and am I just being paranoid? If I cannot get a visa, or get denied, can I fly to HK, then just take a flight to PEK before I need to come back to the US, and just sit there in the airport and wait? Also, I hear a bought ticket is not necessary, just an itinerary, can I do that? Is that advisable, or am I just making something out of nothing?

I also speak fluent Chinese, but I learned it in Taiwan... so we won't go there with the Chinese embassy heh. I am not Chinese though, I was born in Chile and grew up in the US (could that be yet another problem?). I just renewed my US passport (the old one finally expired), so no ROC stuff is in this very brand new passport.

I am a cautious one! Just being (Very) careful before my 24 hr cancellation window expires.

Thank you very much for any information you provide.
-K