Sorry, I did not mean to be a downer for your trip. I've tried to get the licenses before for China and it is virtually impossible unless you are a big production company with big bucks. As a recreational flyer, forget about it, the only way you can do it is to just bring your drone and wing it. You could buy the drone in China or Hong Kong, though from HK you may run into issues bringing it into China (I am based in Hong Kong).
Honestly, my friends with smaller drones have no real issues, it's just that when you show up with an Inspire, people see it as serious hardware whereas mavics can pass off as small toy drones. It will also depend on your port of entry. I've never had issues flying into Shanghai with my Inspire but I have had a hiccup to Beijing and have had it straight up held by customs going into Zhongshan from Hong Kong (the same can apply to Shenzhen and any border crossing where there is a lot of HK-China-HK smuggling happening).
Re the batteries, please double check with your airline, it's not a legal point (there are no laws that say you cannot carry batteries on a plane, it's the carrier's policy and most are stricter than IATA guidelines--more importantly, whenever I have tried to use IATA guidelines with security/crew to let me take my batteries, it's never really worked out). Best to double check with the airline, you should also be ready to show what Wh they are. I once flew from Frankfurt and while the carrier was fine with it, the airport security would not let me through with 6 inspire batteries. When I fly out of HKG, they flag me down at security, I show them the batteries, which I always describe as "camera batteries". They will inspect them, write down a sheet of paper with your name, flight number, and a list of the batteries you are carrying and then they call the airline to notify them and confirm and then you move on. I've had only one trip out of HKG where they did not stop me. I've found that I have more luck getting past without hassles if I put the batteries in different bags instead of all in one (I typically travel with 8 batteries).
Do let me know when you'll be around Hong Kong--same for you Alan (AIR), let me know if you are free sometime, always happy to meet up with other drone pilots.
For Macau, not much planning needed. Unless you're a big gambler, Macau is a day trip in my opinion from HK. You can hop on a ferry just about any time of day without reservations and head on over. Let me know if you have any questions about HK, feel free to message me and ask anything.