Hong Kong to Shanghai to Tokyo

Hello,
I play to visit all of Asia's Disneyland parks in one trip. If I were to fly to Hong Kong from Canada then from Hong Kong to Shanghai (Staying for approximately 2 days) and continue on to Japan does this meet the three country requirement? I know that Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region, so does it count as a third destination?
I could switch my plans to go Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong if necessary but I thought travelling far to near made some level of sense.
Thanks!