Skyteam is opening a lot of flights to China these days. (NW, DL, CO, etc).

Star Alliance (UA, SQ, etc) has some flights as well, but probably more connections. I'd check pricing to the city you want to fly to, and join the program that gives you the best schedule/price, and benefits.

I'd check out www.itasoftware.com and do a general month-long search for best pricing. Also, I'd talk with other students, and see if they have a Chinese travel agent that they use. Sometimes ex-Asia you can find much better deals than from the US.