1 hour stop in Dalian before Beijing - 72 hour visa still ok?

Hi,

We are flying from Hiroshima to Beijing and then onward to London. I am British and my OH is Estonian. However, as part of the journey, we will be performing a transit stop in DLC for 1hr. I do not know if we will even be allowed off the aeroplane during this stop. Will we still be allowed to apply for the 72hr transit in Beijing; we will be staying there for a couple of days before our onward journey to London? Thanks.