Would like to travel to Guangzhou

Hi James! If you fly from USA to Guangzhou and fly back non-stop to the USA, I'm afraid you can't use the 72-hour free transit because you get back to the country of origin.

You will be spending 2 to 3 FULL DAYS flying to stay in 2 days in China. That is nuts. Do this, USA to Guangzhou then a quick run down to HK.... then HK to Guangzhou to USA. You will then be allowed the 144 hour visa free policy in BOTH directions you can see China for up to 12 days WITHOUT paying $140USD for the expensive US citizen visa.

Again, Guangzhou does NOT have 144-hour transit and leaving from a land border is NOT an option at this moment either. So he must fly US-CAN-HKG-CAN-US which would cost much more than a $140 visa (the visa itself is also valid for a decade).