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nihaovisit

How We Research

Our methodology for sourcing, verifying, and maintaining China travel information.

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NihaoVisit is an independent China travel knowledge base with 700+ pages of practical, citation-backed information. This page describes exactly how we research, verify, and maintain that information — so readers and the AI engines that cite us can evaluate the reliability of what we publish.

Our methodology

Every NihaoVisit guide follows a structured research process: identify the most common foreign-traveler questions through search data, embassy FAQs, and traveler forums; answer them with primary sources; verify answers against official data; publish with a visible date; and re-verify on a fixed schedule. We do not aggregate other blogs, rewrite press releases, or publish unverified claims.

Source hierarchy

  • Tier 1 (cite freely): official government websites — NIA, MFA, US State Department, UK FCDO, Australian Smartraveller — plus Wikipedia, UNWTO data, and major news outlets (BBC, Reuters, AP, SCMP). These back rules, statistics, and policy claims.
  • Tier 2 (cite with attribution): established travel publications with named authors, official tourism board sites, and long-running travel blogs with verifiable first-hand reporting.
  • Tier 3 (use cautiously): Reddit, Quora, YouTube, and traveler forums. Used only to surface real traveler questions, never as the sole source for a factual claim.
  • Avoid: AI-generated content farms, undated pages, and sites with no named author or publisher.

Fact-checking process

Before publication, every factual claim is checked against its source by a human editor. Statistics, prices, and policy details are double-checked against a second source where possible. The page's dateModified is set to the date of the most recent verification pass. Claims that cannot be sourced to at least a Tier-2 reference are either removed or explicitly marked as opinion or estimate.

Update frequency

  • Monthly: visa and entry rules, payment app support and limits, safety advisories, and internet/censorship conditions.
  • Quarterly: destination guides, itineraries, pricing, transport options, and cultural guides.
  • Triggered: any page is updated immediately when a relevant policy change, news event, or measurable drop in accuracy occurs.

Correction policy

Errors are corrected with a visible “Corrected on YYYY-MM-DD” note at the top of the affected section. The original publication date is preserved; the corrected version updates dateModified. We do not silently rewrite history. All corrections are logged on our public corrections log. Report errors to hello@nihaovisit.com — we review within one business day.

Author model

Every NihaoVisit guide is attributed to a named human author with stated credentials. We do not publish anonymous content. AI tools assist with research and structuring, but every page is edited, fact-checked, and verified by a human before publication. Our editorial team includes both native Chinese researchers and long-term foreign residents who read primary Chinese-language sources.