Travelling through china both directions

HI
I intend to fly from the US to Shanghai, stay for 3 days, and then fly on to Thailand. THe return trip to the US goes from Thailand via shanghai to New York
Can I use the transit visa program going both ways, the return trip is only for a few hours to wait for a connections.
Basically I will have 2 tickets a round trip US to China, and another for China to Thailand

thanks for your help
Ray