Editorial standards
These are the rules we actually work to when writing, verifying and correcting content. If you find a place where we have not followed them, tell us.
Last updated: 20 September 2026
What we are — and what we are not
HelloChina is an independent travel-information service that explains the practical side of travelling to China, in English and Simplified Chinese.
We are not a Chinese government website, an immigration authority, a law firm or a travel agency. Nothing here is legal advice, and nothing here guarantees entry, boarding, tickets or any particular outcome. A policy conclusion on this site only means we have laid out the published official conditions clearly — the authority decides.
How articles are produced
Our blog articles are drafted with AI assistance and then reviewed and edited by a human editor before publication. Policy-sensitive claims (visas, entry rules, payments) must carry an official source and a verification date; when we get something wrong, the correction is published on the article itself.
Source grading
Every fact carries a grade. The grade decides what the source can support, and what has to be recorded before we publish.
| Grade | Source | Can support | Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Chinese government, National Immigration Administration, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, embassies and consulates, railway and competent authorities | Policy conditions, documents, time limits, official procedures | Must link directly and record the verification date |
| B | Official help centres for payments, transport, maps and telecoms | Product steps, supported cards, fees and limits | Record the test date and the version tested |
| C | Provincial and municipal culture & tourism bureaus, scenic areas, museums | Opening hours, reservations, tickets, access | Volatile fields get a review cycle |
| D | Reliable media, specialist authors, first-hand traveller reports | Background, experience and leads on common questions | Cannot establish a policy fact on its own |
| E | Community posts and short video | Spotting problems and choosing topics | Lead only — verify separately before publishing |
Only three conclusions are permitted
Every policy tool and rule page uses only the three states below. We do not write “guaranteed visa-free”, “guaranteed boarding” or “you will definitely be admitted” — unless the authority has authorised that wording in writing.
The inputs you gave match a scheme we currently support. You still have to confirm it against the official source.
The inputs you gave clearly fall outside the current rule.
The input is insufficient, the rule boundary is complex, the source has aged, or the situation is not covered yet.
How a policy rule gets published
- An official page changes. That creates a review candidate — it does not edit live content directly.
- The reviewer keeps a snapshot of the original source or its key metadata and diffs it against the previous version.
- Structured conditions and the reader-facing explanation are updated separately, so a change is never only a rewritten paragraph.
- High-impact rules need a second reviewer. Until that review is complete the change stays a draft.
- Each published language is reviewed on its own. Machine translation is never auto-published for policy or factual content.
- The new version ships with a change summary and the previous version is retained, so a rule can be withdrawn and restored.
Review cycles
A cycle is an operational target, not a guarantee that content stays valid inside it. Volatile information past its cycle should show “needs re-checking”, and high-risk content can be taken down temporarily.
| Content | Default cycle | Triggered by |
|---|---|---|
| Entry and visa-free policy | Every 7 days | Immediately when an authority publishes a new announcement |
| Payment and app steps | Every 30 days | App redesign or a cluster of user reports |
| Transport and identity rules | Every 30 days | When an operator changes its announcement |
| Tickets and reservations | Every 30–60 days | Before public holidays and on site announcements |
| Destination background and culture | Every 180 days | On a factual error or sensitive wording |
Language and translation
English is the factual baseline; where policy facts differ, the English version governs. Simplified Chinese is the launch auxiliary language and is written by an editor — it is not machine translation.
Machine translation may only assist a draft. It is never auto-published for policy or factual content. When the English version has moved ahead of another language, the page says so plainly.
How destination data is handled
The destination directory is built from an open structured dataset (china-travel-atlas, MIT). Importing it meant changing it, not copying it:
- Subjective scores and “photo ratings” were deleted and replaced with explainable tags (UNESCO, historic architecture, gardens, book-ahead, and so on).
- Absolute verdicts such as “must keep” or “you must go” were rewritten as editorial suggestions.
- Every record keeps the image author, licence and source page. Images without licence information are not used.
- Pages covering Hong Kong, China; Macao, China; and Taiwan, China get separate legal, map, terminology and content review, and are flagged on-page as awaiting compliance review.
Chinese-language source prose is currently kept as-is and labelled “English editorial translation pending”. We do not present machine translation as reviewed content.
How culture writing is done
- Explain specific situations. Do not write Chinese culture as a fixed personality or one single custom.
- State regional, family, generational and personal variation clearly.
- Never write etiquette as punitive rules or use fear as motivation.
- Ethnicity, religion, history and territory go into dedicated review.
- Images must not present AI-generated scenes as real places or real cultural records.
Photography and attribution
We only use licences that allow commercial reuse: CC0, public domain, CC BY and CC BY-SA. NC, ND, fair use and non-free material are rejected. Every image records its author, licence name and source page, and the credit is shown next to the image.
Corrections and transparency
Every volatile page carries a report link. Reports go into a queue with the page, the field, your description and any source you provide. We publish our editorial principles, source hierarchy and update dates — but not staff personal data or internal security detail.
Standing disclaimer
HelloChina provides travel information and plain-language explanation. It is not a Chinese government website and does not provide legal advice or a guarantee of entry. Policies and services can change at any time — confirm again before departure with the authorities, embassies and providers listed on the page.