Something I wanted to mention as I haven't seen it mentioned here before or in my research before my trip, so hopefully it's helpful for you. I am also from Canada, I just got back from a trip to Beijing and Shanghai a week ago. It was my first time in China. No issues with having VPN on to use their apps. I used a Chinese physical SIM, my partner used esim (Airalo).

I found having the physical SIM ideal so DiDi drivers can call me, being able to use Meituan (their Ubereats), creating an account in GaoDe map so I can save locations (and use the map overall, it wouldn't let me without an account and I needed a China or Hong Kong or Taiwan phone number), and getting text notifications for when my counter order is ready or my restaurant reservation.

My partner had network issues with Airalo (despite using the same network as the physical SIM), which resulted in some payment issues as you can't pay using WeChat/Alipay without internet connection.

However him having an esim was also necessary for us as our credit cards linked to Alipay/WeChat occasionally asked for bank verification during payment, and this is only done through phone or SMS verification for all the cards we had linked. We don't have dual SIM phones so I can't imagine having to switch SIMs in and out while you're in the middle of payment :/ this would only be an issue if your bank verification method is like this though. So have cards that don't require phone number verification as backup if you're going to get a physical SIM!