exwannabe

I would consider where you want the miles and status to go. They will be a nice chunk.

If I was an AA guy, I would fly CZ to CAN. As I am a DL guy, I would pick either CI or MU based on price and schedule.

I do not see a lot of difference between them. IMO CI > MU > CZ. But not by much.

EDIT: On moondog's point about destination, I assume the OP is using this as a base for further travel around Asia. If so, I would price tickets from the gateways onwords to see how that plays out.