Just another city to add to China Southern's sale that flightscout has posted about. China Southern is offering flights to Manila from Christchurch $685, Auckland $691, and Wellington $759 in November. Flights include bags, meals and seats.
All have layovers in Guangzhou of around 3 hours however what I would do is take a flight with a long layover to explore the city. All visitors to China get a 72 hour free transit visa. Wiki Travel: Guangzhou
Google Flights will show you what days have the cheap flights and then plug the dates into Skyscanner to get them cheaper.
Manila from Auckland $691 - Google Flights - Skyscanner - 8 hour layover
Manila from Christchurch $694 - Google FlightsSkyscanner - 8 hour layover
Manila from Wellington $725 - Google Flights - Skyscanner Stopover in Auckland as well. 9 hour layover on the way back