This Privacy Policy explains how Offbeat China (“we”, “us”) collects, uses, and protects your personal information when you use our website and services. We only collect what we need to answer your questions and arrange your booking, and we never sell your data. You can read our guides, browse destinations, and use the visa checker without giving us any personal information — the visa checker runs entirely in your browser.
1. Information we collect
When you contact us or send a booking request, we collect the details you provide, which may include:
- your name;
- your email address and/or a messaging handle (such as WhatsApp or WeChat);
- your preferred travel dates and party size;
- the experience you are interested in; and
- any message or notes you choose to send us.
We also collect limited technical information automatically, such as basic analytics and how you arrived at the Site (for example, the referring website or campaign link), to help us understand and improve our service.
2. How we use your information
- to reply to your inquiry and arrange and deliver your booking;
- to send you a confirmation and any messages about your experience;
- to keep records of our communications and bookings; and
- to improve our website and the experiences we offer.
3. Legal basis
We process your information because it is necessary to respond to your request and provide the services you ask for, and on the basis of your consent when you contact us. Where required by law, we rely on your consent for any non-essential analytics.
4. Who we share it with
We do not sell your personal information. We share it only with trusted service providers who help us operate — for example, our email delivery, database hosting, and website infrastructure providers — and only so they can perform those services for us. We may also disclose information where required by law. If you follow a link to a third-party booking partner, your use of their site is governed by their own privacy policy.
5. International transfers
We use service providers that may store or process data in countries other than the one you live in. Where your information is transferred across borders, we take reasonable steps to ensure it remains protected.
6. Data retention
We keep your information for as long as needed to handle your inquiry and booking and to meet our legal and record-keeping obligations, after which we delete or anonymise it.
7. Cookies and tracking
We keep tracking to a minimum. Essential cookies are needed for the Site to function and are always on. For analytics we use Google Analytics 4, a service provided by Google LLC, to understand how visitors find and use the Site — for example your approximate location (derived from your IP address, which Google does not store for this purpose), your device and browser, the pages you view, and the link or campaign that brought you here. This helps us improve our content and experiences.
Analytics is off by default. When you first visit, a cookie banner asks for your choice, and we load Google Analytics in a “consent denied” mode (no analytics cookies) until you Accept. If you Reject, analytics stays off. You can change your decision at any time using the “Cookie settings” link in the footer of any page, or by blocking cookies in your browser settings; disabling cookies may affect some features.
You can learn more in Google’s Privacy Policy and opt out of Google Analytics across all sites with the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.
8. Your rights
You may ask us to access, correct, or delete the personal information we hold about you, or to withdraw your consent, by emailing hello@offbeatchina-guide.com. We will respond within a reasonable time and in line with applicable law.
9. Children
The Site is intended for adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children without the involvement of a parent or guardian, who can contact us about any such data.
10. Security
We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your information. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, however, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.
11. Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The current version is always posted on this page with its “last updated” date.
12. Contact
For any privacy question or request, email hello@offbeatchina-guide.com. See also our Terms of Service.