What type of China visa do I need? Regular one, or 24hr. free transit and where to apply for that?

We are flying from Vancouver Canada January 24th 2017 to Shanghai. Stay 1 night in Shanghai before boarding day 16 night cruise to Japan, Taiwan, Philippine, Vietnam & Hong Kong .

If we qualify for the 24 hrs free transit, would we have trouble boarding our plane in Vancouver with China Eastern without the regular China entry sticker on our passport? Anyone who used the 24hr free transit method before from Canada please give us solid confirmation that it's o.k. & let us know what procedure we must take as time is running late if we need to apply for the regular China entry visa instead of the 24 hrs free transit.