24hr direct transit visa

we had a 10hr stopover in Guangzhou and our airline China Southern said we could have
free overnight accomodation but when we arrived at the airport we were refused by the airline
who said immigration had changed the law and we had to apply for an entry permit.This was in Sept 2017
we are travelling back via the same airline and longer stopover early November. Are we going to have to sit in the airport again? should we apply for an entry permit?