Leaving Pudong Airport

My wife and I are travelling from South Korea to Hong Kong and have a layover at Shanghai Pudong. On our return, we have an 18-hour layover at Pudong. My question is, will my wife be able to leave the airport with me? I am a U.S. passport holder but my wife is a Philippines passport holder. I know that I qualify for the 72-hour free transit and that my wife does not. I also know that we can stay in the airport for less than 24 hours without visa because we have an outbound flight back to South Korea. But, I am still curious if my wife and I will be able to leave the airport and get a hotel room for the night. Most of the things I read on the internet say that she will have to stay in the airport but I called our airline (China Eastern) and they said that she would be able to leave the airport with me because our connecting flight is within 24-hours.