Privacy, Cookies & Disclosures
Plain-language transparency about your data, our cookies, and how we make money.
Last updated: 2 June 2026
This page explains what information A Thousand Li ("we", "us", "the site") collects when you visit, how we use it, the cookies we set, and how we disclose the affiliate relationships that help fund the site. If you have any questions, email us at {{CONTACT_EMAIL}}.
1. Who we are
A Thousand Li is a personal, independently run travel guide to China, published at this website. We are the data controller for the limited personal information described below. We are not a large media company, and we collect as little about you as we reasonably can.
2. Information we collect
Information you give us
If you subscribe to our Field Notes newsletter, we collect the email address you provide. That's it — we don't ask for your name, and we don't require an account.
Information collected automatically
Like most websites, we collect basic, mostly anonymised usage data to understand which stories are useful: pages viewed, the site that referred you, your device and browser type, and an approximate location derived from your IP address. This is gathered through cookies and similar technologies (see below).
What we don't collect
We don't collect sensitive personal information, and we never handle your payment details. Any bookings, purchases, or insurance policies happen entirely on our partners' own secure websites, governed by their privacy policies — not ours.
3. How we use your information
- To send you the newsletter you asked for (and nothing else).
- To understand which content readers find useful, so we can write more of it.
- To maintain, secure, and improve the website.
- To comply with our legal obligations.
We do not sell your data, and we never share your email address with third parties for their own marketing.
4. Cookies & tracking
Cookies are small files stored by your browser. We use three kinds:
- Essential cookies — needed for the site to function and remember basic preferences.
- Analytics cookies — help us count visits and see which pages perform, via our analytics provider, {{ANALYTICS_PROVIDER}}.
- Affiliate cookies — when you click an affiliate link, our partner (for example Amazon or Booking.com) may set a cookie so that any resulting purchase can be credited to us. These typically expire after a set period and don't identify you to us personally.
You can block or delete cookies at any time through your browser settings. Disabling some cookies may affect how parts of the site work.
5. Affiliate links & disclosure
A Thousand Li is reader-supported. To keep the writing free, some of our pages contain affiliate links. If you click one and then book or buy something, we may earn a small commission — at no extra cost to you. We participate in affiliate programmes including, among others, Amazon Associates, Booking.com (via affiliate networks), SafetyWing, and Travelpayouts and its partner brands.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Our editorial independence. Affiliate commissions never determine what we recommend. We only point readers towards accommodation, gear, services, and routes we would genuinely choose ourselves, and a link's commission rate has no bearing on whether — or how favourably — something appears in a guide. Where a page contains affiliate links, we disclose it clearly and up front, in keeping with guidance from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, the UK Advertising Standards Authority, and equivalent bodies.
6. Third-party services
We rely on a few trusted third parties to run the site — our website host, our email/newsletter provider, our analytics provider, and the affiliate networks and merchants we link to. When you follow an outbound link or submit your email, that data is handled under the relevant third party's own privacy policy. We encourage you to review the policies of any partner site you visit.
7. Your rights & choices
You can unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time using the link in every email. You may also ask us to confirm what personal data we hold about you, correct it, or delete it — just email {{CONTACT_EMAIL}}. Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights: for example under the EU/UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020, or the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). We honour these requests regardless of your location.
8. Data retention
We keep your newsletter email address until you unsubscribe or ask us to remove it. Analytics data is retained only as long as needed to understand site trends, in line with our analytics provider's settings.
9. Children's privacy
This site is intended for a general adult audience. It is not directed at children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has provided us their data, please contact us and we will delete it.
10. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time as the site evolves or the law changes. The "last updated" date at the top always reflects the current version, and we'll flag any material changes on this page.
11. Contact
Questions about this policy, your data, or our disclosures? Write to us at {{CONTACT_EMAIL}}. We read every message.