Thank you moondog for your always helpful suggestions.

I'm actually flying into PVG from the US and planning to go to Chengdu the next day. So probably a PVG flight will work for me.

This will be late December. Any risk of Chengdu flights selling out? Should I book sooner rather than later? Would you recommend using a travel agent in Shanghai or the US or booking directly from the airline.

Thanks again for your help. Hopefully, I will be able to reciprocate one day.