About
Methodology
How we decide what is popular, how we check it, and how we make money.
How we decide what is popular
We combine search interest, social mentions and shopping or menu rankings, normalise each, and weight them. Until the data pipeline is live, rankings, scores and prices are marked “illustrative”. They are editorial placeholders, not verified measurements.
Verdicts and scores
“Is it popular?” answers carry a verdict: Yes (score 70–100), Partly (40–69) or No (0–39). Tool guides that depend on your situation say so. Every page states its sources, the date we last checked it, and the date of its next review. We review every page at least every 90 days.
Affiliate disclosure
Some links (eSIMs, hotels, tours, shopping) are affiliate links. They are marked with ↗, routed through /go/, and we may earn a commission. Commissions never change a verdict or a ranking. Comparisons include options we earn nothing from.
Corrections
Spot an error? Email [email protected]. We fix confirmed errors and note the change in the page’s update log.
Photo credits
Photos marked “Popular in China” were taken by our team and may not be reused without permission. All other photos are from Unsplash, used under the Unsplash License.
- Lujiazui across the Huangpu River, seen from the Bund (Shanghai): Alex Liu, Popular in China
- A bowl of dumplings: krzhck on Unsplash
- A breakfast table in Shanghai: Xiyuan Du on Unsplash
- Lunch at a neighbourhood restaurant: Yanhao Fang on Unsplash
- A street-food stall in Chengdu: Zooey Li on Unsplash
- A snack vendor in Haikou: Shana Wu on Unsplash
- Noodles and starch jelly in chilli oil, Chengdu: Zoshua Colah on Unsplash
- A jianbing guozi cart on a city sidewalk: MChe Lee on Unsplash
- A bowl of steaming noodles, Wuzhen: Anh Tuan To on Unsplash
- Stir-fried noodles, Zhangjiajie: Zoshua Colah on Unsplash
- Evening crowds in a lantern-lit market street: Sergio Kian on Unsplash
- A high-speed train at a Guangzhou station: hiurich granja on Unsplash
- Checking a phone on the go: Markus Winkler on Unsplash
- Fried tofu at a street stall, Hunan: Zoshua Colah on Unsplash
- Umbrellas on a rainy shopping street, Shanghai: Nuno Alberto on Unsplash
- Table tennis paddles: Inkiipow on Unsplash
- A concert crowd in Shanghai: Hanny Naibaho on Unsplash
- Tea and a clay teapot: Manki Kim on Unsplash
- Skincare, applied: Nataliya Melnychuk on Unsplash
- A pot of red hot pot broth with dishes of ingredients (Guiyang, Guizhou): Leongsan on Unsplash
- Chopsticks lifting sliced lamb for hot pot: blackieshoot on Unsplash
- Xiaolongbao soup dumplings in a bamboo steamer: Kaitlin 99 on Unsplash
- Sliced Peking duck on a white plate: Wenhao Wang on Unsplash
- Candied hawthorn and fruit skewers at a street stand: MChe Lee on Unsplash
- Bowls of peanuts, sunflower seeds and broad beans for a wedding: jason hu on Unsplash
- A pile of White Rabbit milk candies: Haydn on Unsplash
- A potter arranging hand-painted porcelain bowls (Jingdezhen, Jiangxi): Xiyuan Du on Unsplash
- An empty carriage on the Shanghai metro (Shanghai): Yang JunJie on Unsplash
- A man at an outdoor teahouse table: MChe Lee on Unsplash
- A potter shaping clay on a wheel: jason hu on Unsplash