Independence#
No paid placement, ever. No destination, hotel, restaurant, tour operator or brand can pay to appear in a guide, to be ranked higher, or to be described more favourably. Commercial relationships exist only through the affiliate and advertising arrangements described in our affiliate disclosure, and they do not influence what we recommend.
We recommend against our own commercial interest where the facts require it. Several pages on this site tell readers to choose the cheaper non-commissionable option. That is deliberate and it is the point.
Sponsored content, if it ever appears, is labelled as such at the top of the page, in the same size type as the body text.
Accuracy#
- Primary sources. Visa and entry information comes from Chinese embassy and National Immigration Administration announcements. Prices and hours come from official booking systems. Where we cite a figure with a policy attached, we say when it was checked.
- No invented specifics. We do not publish prices, times or rules we have not verified. Where something varies or is uncertain, we say so rather than picking a plausible number.
- Dates on everything. Every page carries a last-updated date.
- Expiry flags. Chinese visa-free schemes carry trial periods and end dates. We flag them and tell readers to confirm before booking.
Corrections#
If we publish something wrong, we fix it and — where the error was material — note the correction on the page. Reader corrections are welcome and are the fastest way we find problems. Send them via the contact page.
Review and updates#
- Entry, payment and connectivity guides are reviewed at least quarterly, and immediately when a policy changes.
- Destination and itinerary guides are reviewed annually and after any significant change to a major sight's access or ticketing.
- Prices are refreshed annually; readers should still treat them as indicative.
Use of AI#
Drafting tools may be used in production. Every published page is reviewed by a human before publication, and factual claims — prices, times, rules, distances — are checked against sources rather than accepted from a model. We do not publish machine-generated text unreviewed, and we do not generate fake reviews, fake photographs or fabricated first-person experiences.
Sensitive coverage#
China includes places and topics where travel writing has consequences for the people who live there. Our approach:
- We describe entry requirements, security procedures and access restrictions factually, because travellers need to plan around them.
- We do not encourage visitors to photograph security infrastructure, press local people on political subjects, or behave in ways that create risk for someone who cannot leave.
- We link to official government travel advice rather than substituting our judgement for it.
What we are not#
We are not a travel agency, we do not sell tours, and we do not operate on the ground in China. When a guide recommends using a licensed agency — for a Tibet permit, for instance — we have no stake in which one you choose.