Lauri-
I think if you take the excursion from Tianjin (Beijing), you will essentially miss Beijing entirely. If you leave from Shanghai, you will still spend 2 full days there and leave the last morning, missing only a half day and a sea day. Skipping Dailan and taking the train sounds fascinating, but, as everyone on MUSH remembers, there are risks to independent travel, so we should definitely consider using the Regent Concierge service so we will not have to worry about connections, etc.

Mitch