ChinaBuddyTerms of Use
Effective date: 2026-10-23
1. Who we are
ChinaBuddy is built by a team based in Shanghai, with local knowledge of everyday life and travel in China. We want to help people from around the world explore and understand China with less friction.
The service is provided by ChinaBuddy Dev Team, based in Shanghai, China ("ChinaBuddy", "we" or "us"). For service, purchase or refund questions, contact support@service.chinabuddy.ai.
These Terms govern your use of our website and travel assistant. By using the service, you agree to them. Our Privacy Notice explains how we handle personal information.
2. Using ChinaBuddy
You must be at least 18 and able to enter into these Terms under the law that applies to you. Keep your sign-in methods secure and only provide information you are entitled to share, including information about travel companions.
You can explore supported features as a guest or sign in to keep access across devices. Guest credentials expire 30 days after the guest session is created, after which unclaimed travel content enters automatic cleanup. Clearing browser credentials can prevent earlier access. Sign in and transfer your guest trip before expiry if you want to keep it.
3. Travel assistance and your decisions
ChinaBuddy helps with travel planning, practical questions, communication and travel-related choices. Its agent uses AI, local knowledge, trip context and available sources. AI can make mistakes, and information such as opening hours, prices, entry rules and transport conditions can change.
Check important visa, entry, safety, transport and payment information with the relevant official authority or supplier before acting. ChinaBuddy does not provide emergency services or replace professional medical, legal or immigration advice.
You decide whether to follow a recommendation and whether to book or pay. Saving a plan, opening a link or receiving a reply does not itself make a reservation, complete a purchase or contact a supplier. In-app reminders do not guarantee delivery through email, push notifications or another channel.
4. Recommendations and affiliate income
We may earn commissions or referral revenue from partners, including Trip.com, Viator and other booking or activity providers, when you make an eligible booking or purchase through a partner link. Not every link earns a commission.
Our agent aims to recommend options that fit your stated needs, budget, timing, preferences and available information. We do not rank travel options by commission rates or recommend a less suitable option to earn a higher commission.
Coverage and booking links depend on the sources and providers available to the service. A recommendation is not a comparison of every market option or a guarantee of the lowest price. We may provide a partner booking link for a recommended option; that commercial relationship remains relevant even when the travel recommendation was made independently.
Any fee charged by ChinaBuddy is shown before purchase. Final travel prices, taxes, availability and booking conditions are determined by the supplier. Our Privacy Notice explains affiliate attribution and related data handling.
5. Third-party travel services
When you follow a supplier link, you deal with the booking platform or travel provider under its own terms. Review its total price, cancellation rules, eligibility and service details before paying. Search results may not match dates, party size or conditions you later select on the supplier's website.
The supplier or booking platform handles that travel booking, payment, fulfilment and related refunds. Buying ChinaBuddy access is separate from buying a hotel stay, transport, ticket or activity. We remain responsible for our own service and obligations under applicable law.
6. Paid access
When paid access is available, we show its price, currency, request allowance, validity and refund policy before checkout. Paid packs are one-time purchases and do not renew automatically. Access starts after payment verification; returning from checkout alone does not confirm payment.
One completed user request counts once, including a supported photo and internal model or tool calls. Failed, cancelled or partially delivered requests do not consume a completed-request allowance. A pack may have the expiry shown in its offer, or no expiry for a store purchase explicitly sold on that basis. Valid allowances with an expiry are used first, earliest expiry first. New prices or package terms apply to new purchases without reducing an existing pack's purchased allowance or validity.
Reasonable frequency, capacity and security limits may apply to protect the service. Buying a pack does not remove those safeguards. An allowance reaching zero or a pack expiring does not itself delete your travel history. See the current offer on our Trip Pass page.
If a product is marked coming soon, joining its waitlist does not create an order or take payment.
App purchases use Apple App Store or Google Play in-app billing. The store shows its local price and applicable payment terms. Restoring or reconciling a purchase does not grant a second allowance for the same transaction. Store account eligibility, payment approval and refunds follow the relevant store process as well as applicable law.
Refund policy
Contact support@service.chinabuddy.ai within seven days of purchase to request a refund for an unused pack. Used packs are reviewed individually. Include the order reference and sign-in email so we can identify the purchase; do not send payment credentials or sign-in codes.
For an App Store or Google Play purchase, request a refund through the relevant store’s refund process; support can help identify the transaction but cannot promise approval by the store.
This voluntary policy does not limit mandatory cancellation, withdrawal, refund or other consumer rights. Where the law gives you a longer period or another remedy, that right takes priority. Starting to use the service does not by itself waive statutory rights. Travel purchases made with a third party follow that supplier's policy and applicable law.
A full refund ends access provided by the refunded pack. A partial refund or payment dispute may suspend that pack while it is reviewed. Deleting a trip, signing out or closing checkout does not request a refund or cancel an external booking.
7. Your content and generated material
You retain your rights in content you provide. You give us the permission needed to host, process and display it to operate the service and carry out the uses described in our Privacy Notice, subject to applicable law and your choices. This is not unrestricted permission to sell your travel content or train models with it.
You may use generated material for travel and other lawful purposes, subject to applicable law and third-party rights. It may be inaccurate, resemble material provided to others, or contain supplier content with its own restrictions. ChinaBuddy's branding, software and original site content remain protected by their respective rights.
8. Responsible use
Do not use the service for unlawful, fraudulent or harmful activity, infringe others' rights, access another person's account or trip, bypass payment or usage limits, or disrupt or compromise the service.
Do not use automated scraping or deceptive requests to extract private data, system prompts or non-public implementation details, evade safeguards, or copy the service at scale. Ordinary travel questions, feedback and lawful rights requests remain welcome.
9. Availability and ending use
We may update features or restrict access to address abuse, security risks, legal requirements or a serious breach of these Terms. We explain material restrictions when appropriate and provide notice where required. Temporary provider failures, network conditions and maintenance can affect availability.
You may stop using the service at any time. The Privacy Notice explains data controls and deletion requests. If we discontinue a paid service, we address remaining purchased access and any refunds required by law.
10. Responsibility and disputes
We do not guarantee uninterrupted availability, error-free AI responses or the accuracy and availability of third-party travel services. Our responsibility for loss is determined by applicable law. Nothing in these Terms excludes mandatory consumer rights or liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.
Contact support@service.chinabuddy.ai first so we can try to resolve a concern. For questions about governing law, competent courts or any required consumer dispute channel, contact support@service.chinabuddy.ai. Any applicable law or forum must preserve protections and remedies that mandatory law gives consumers.
11. Changes to these Terms
We update the effective date when these Terms change and give notice of material changes as required. Updated Terms do not retrospectively reduce rights attached to purchases already made. Changes to personal-information processing are addressed separately in the Privacy Notice, including consent where required.