Originally Posted by
jiejie
I'm guessing the opposite, that the deciding factor will be the less-than-24 hours layover, and that the poster will be granted TWOV but not permitted to leave the airport. With 17 hours to kill at CAN, that would be a bummer.
For what it's worth, I contacted the 24-hour inquiry hotline of Guangzhou General Station of Immigration Inspection at +86 20 32090088, which was listed on the China Southern website for those concerned about immigration policies and he did not speak English very well but it was enough to the point where he said USA citizens have 72 hours to enter at Guangzhou airport.
I may have my Chinese friend call that number back and ask him to completely verify but that put my mind much more at ease that I won't be stuck at an airport for 15-16 hours.
I would suggest putting an asterik on the wiki as it is appearing more and more so that it is not true that people cannot leave the airport.