I am traveling to China also this summer, and after a lot of research those are the cities I will visit, along with Xi'an. I think all are worthwhile. FWIW I was not going to include Xi'an and numerous people who had been there convinced me I should include it. So I scheduled a fly out in the morning from beijing, then stay overnight in Xi'an , then fly to Shanghai. After 4 days in shanghei, then fly to Hong Kong, where Macau is definitely on our list! Have fun-I am looking forward to it.