I'm trying to book a trip for me and my boyfriend for weekend after next:

Inbound
Date: 2020-05-30
Route: Shanghai (SHA/PVG) - Shenzhen (SZX)

Outbound
Date: 2020-06-01
Route: Guangzhou (CAN) - Shanghai (SHA/PVG)

Cabin: Business

I can't figure out how to pay for a booking, however. The airline says they only accept domestic Chinese payments. Is that true?

Here's the process I went through:

Attempt 1
I tried to book on ceair.com, which was buggy but possible... but then I got the end and I could only pay with a domestic Chinese bank transfer? Not possible for me.



Attempt 2
I called. I spent over an hour on the phone (US toll-free number) but they said they only accept payment by Chinese bank transfer, and that I should apply for the right type of visa so I can open an account in China in order to book the flight. The agent wasn't familiar with Visa/MC/AMEX and suggested I ask a friend to pay for me (?!?!?!?!).

Attempt 3
I found a post about a US-version of the site (https://us.ceair.com), but that site doesn't even support searching for flights, much less paying.


Attempt 4
Oh! The text message they sent with a payment link... no idea what this means



So, how does one book and pay for a flight with MU?