Booking Terms & Conditions

1. Who we are and how our journeys work

China Journey Co Pty Ltd is an Australian company that designs and sells private tours of China for travellers from Australia. Your journey is private: it is arranged for your party only, and no other travellers will join your group. In China, services such as guiding, driving, hotels and rail are delivered by our carefully selected local partners and suppliers. We remain your point of contact before, during and after your journey.

2. How a booking is made

2.1 You send us an enquiry and we prepare a written quote setting out your itinerary, what is included, the total price and the quote's validity period.

2.2 Website prices are guide prices (see section 3). Nothing is booked or held for you until your deposit is paid.

2.3 Your booking is confirmed, and a contract is formed, when (a) we receive your deposit (or full payment, where section 4 requires it), and (b) we send you a written booking confirmation. Your confirmed itinerary and confirmation together record what has been booked.

2.4 Please check your confirmation carefully as soon as you receive it, and tell us within 7 days if anything is wrong — names must match passports exactly.

3. Prices

3.1 All prices are in Australian dollars, per person based on twin-share rooms, unless stated otherwise. A single-room supplement applies where a traveller occupies a room alone, and is shown in your quote.

3.2 Prices published on our website are guide prices, correct at the time of publication. Your exact price is confirmed in your written quote once we have checked availability of guides, vehicles, hotels and tickets for your dates — before you pay anything.

3.3 Our costs in China are incurred in Chinese yuan. Before your booking is confirmed, your quoted price may change if availability, seasonal demand or exchange-rate movements change our costs. Once your deposit is received and your booking is confirmed in writing, your price is fixed and will not change, except where section 3.4 applies.

3.4 We may correct obvious errors in prices or itineraries at any time. If a correction changes a confirmed booking's price, we will tell you before it takes effect and you may cancel for a full refund of amounts paid for that booking.

3.5 Peak-season dates, and bookings made at short notice (as a guide, less than 3–4 weeks before travel), may attract a surcharge because English-speaking guides and vehicles book out early. Any surcharge will always be stated in your written quote before you pay — never added afterwards.

3.6 If your party size changes, your price is recalculated at the per-person price for the new party size, because our vehicle and guiding costs are shared across the party.

4. Paying for your journey

4.1 Deposit: 20% of the total tour price, payable within 7 days of accepting your written quote. The deposit is not refundable if you cancel, except as set out in section 8 — including the fairness cap in that section — and under the Australian Consumer Law. Your deposit secures your guides, vehicle and other arrangements; until it is received, availability and price are not held.

4.2 Balance: the balance is due no later than 45 days before Day 1 of your itinerary. For bookings made within 45 days of Day 1, full payment is due at the time of booking.

4.3 If the balance is not paid, we will send a reminder. If payment is still not received within 3 business days of that reminder, your booking will be treated as cancelled by you and section 8 will apply.

4.4 We accept payment in AUD by bank transfer. If card payment is offered for your booking, any card surcharge will be disclosed before you pay. You are responsible for any bank fees charged by your own bank.

4.5 Until your balance is received, we are not obliged to issue rail or entry tickets, or to make non-refundable payments to suppliers, for your booking. If availability changes in the meantime, we will tell you and offer the closest available alternative.

4.6 Certain peak periods (such as Chinese National Day Golden Week and Lunar New Year) and specialist arrangements (such as boutique or luxury properties with strict payment conditions) may require a higher deposit, an earlier balance date, or stricter cancellation terms. Where this applies, it will always be stated clearly in your written quote before you book, and the terms stated in the quote apply instead of the standard terms in this section 4 and in section 8 for that booking.

5. What is and is not included

Your written confirmation and itinerary state exactly what your journey includes. In summary, our journeys include a private English-speaking local guide in each city, a private vehicle and driver, hotels of generally around a four-star standard with daily breakfast included, intercity rail in your itinerary, and entry tickets to the sights listed in your itinerary.

Unless expressly stated in your confirmation, the following are not included:

• International flights between Australia and China (see section 6 if you ask us to book them);
• Lunches, dinners and drinks — these are self-paid. Your guide will recommend restaurants locals actually use and help with bookings; allow roughly ¥150–250 per person per day;
• Travel insurance (see section 10);
• Visa or entry fees, if any apply to you (see section 11);
• Gratuities for guides and drivers — always at your discretion, never mandatory;
• Personal expenses (minibar, laundry, souvenirs and the like), and anything not listed in your confirmed itinerary.

6. If we book your international flights

If you ask us to arrange your international flights, we act as your agent to book them with the airline. The fare we pay and our booking fee of A$50 per person will always be shown separately before anything is booked. The airline's own terms, fare rules and conditions of carriage apply to your flights, and flight tickets are generally non-refundable and non-changeable except as the fare rules allow. Flight schedules can change; we will pass on any change we are notified of, but we are not responsible for airline schedule changes or their effect on arrangements you have booked elsewhere.

7. If you change your booking

7.1 Changes are subject to availability and to any charges imposed by our suppliers, which we pass on at cost.

7.2 Before your balance is due, your first minor change (dates or itinerary adjustments that do not change the total price materially) is free. After that, an amendment fee of A$50 per change applies, plus any supplier charges and any difference in price.

7.3 Name corrections are free before tickets are issued. After documents or tickets are issued, correction or reissue costs are payable by you.

7.4 If one traveller in your party cancels but the journey goes ahead, section 8 applies to that traveller, the remaining travellers' price is recalculated under section 3.6, and a single-room supplement may become payable if a traveller is left occupying a room alone.

7.5 Bookings are not transferable to another person or party without our prior written consent.

8. If you cancel your booking

8.1 Cancellations must be notified to us in writing (email is fine). Cancellation takes effect on the day we receive your written notice. The following cancellation charges apply, calculated on the total price of the cancelled booking:

8.2 Fairness cap: the percentages above are a genuine pre-estimate of the costs we incur when a booking is cancelled. If our actual unrecoverable costs (amounts we have paid or must pay our suppliers and cannot recover, plus a reasonable administration amount) are lower than the charge in the table, we will charge only the lower amount.

8.3 Rail tickets, entry tickets and other items that are pre-purchased for your journey are subject to the refund rules of the issuer; any non-refundable portion is payable in addition to, or as part of, the charges above, and any amount we do recover will be credited to you.

8.4 After your journey has commenced, no refund is available for services you choose not to use, or cannot use for reasons outside our control.

8.5 Cancellation charges are why we require travel insurance (section 10) — a comprehensive policy typically covers cancellation in many circumstances.

8.6 Any refund due will be paid to the person who made the payment, within 14 days of the refund amount being determined.

8.7 If your written quote states different deposit, payment or cancellation terms under section 4.6, those terms apply to your booking instead of the table above.

9. If we change or cancel your journey

9.1 Minor changes. If a listed hotel or experience is unavailable for your dates, we will offer the closest equivalent and tell you before confirming. Substituting a hotel, vehicle or experience with one of a comparable or higher standard is not a significant change. The order of sights within a day, and occasionally between days, may be adjusted by your guide to suit local conditions, opening hours and ticket availability.

9.2 Significant changes. If, before departure, we must significantly change an essential element of your journey (for example, removing a city or a major included sight with no equivalent), we will tell you as soon as we can and offer you the choice of (a) accepting the change, (b) accepting an alternative journey of comparable value, or (c) cancelling for a full refund of all amounts you have paid us for that booking.

9.3 If we cancel. If we cancel your journey for reasons other than force majeure (section 9.4) or your failure to pay, you may choose a full refund of all amounts paid, or an alternative journey of comparable value.

9.4 Force majeure. If events beyond our reasonable control — including natural disasters, severe weather, epidemic or pandemic, war or civil unrest, or new government restrictions — mean your journey cannot proceed safely, lawfully or reasonably, we may reschedule or cancel it. In that case we will offer, in order: (a) rescheduling to new dates by agreement; or (b) a credit for the amounts you have paid, valid for 24 months; or (c) a refund of amounts paid less our unrecoverable third-party costs. If your journey is already underway, any refund is limited to costs we recover or do not incur. Neither party is liable to the other for additional losses (such as your airfares booked elsewhere or insurance premiums) arising from a force majeure event.

9.5 During your journey, if local circumstances (weather, road conditions, official closures or restrictions) prevent part of the itinerary, your guide will rearrange or substitute where reasonably possible. Ticketed sights in China can be subject to daily quotas and unexpected closure by the authorities; if a major sight cannot be visited, we will substitute the best available alternative and refund any ticket cost we recover.

10. Travel insurance — a condition of booking

It is a condition of booking that every traveller holds comprehensive travel insurance for the full duration of the journey, covering at minimum medical expenses (including medical evacuation and repatriation) and cancellation. Please take out insurance when you pay your deposit, and tell us your insurer and policy number before you travel so we can assist you in an emergency. We may ask for evidence of your policy; if you choose to travel without insurance despite this condition, you do so entirely at your own risk.

11. Passports, visas and entry requirements

11.1 You must hold a passport valid for at least six months beyond your return date, with blank pages for entry stamps. Names on your booking must match your passport exactly.

11.2 Australian passport holders may currently enter China visa-free for stays of up to 30 days under a policy in place until 31 December 2026. Entry settings can change and eligibility depends on your own circumstances and travel history. It is your responsibility to confirm the entry requirements that apply to you and to obtain any visa you need; we will tell you what we understand the current settings to be, but we cannot guarantee entry. We are not liable for costs arising from a traveller being refused entry for reasons within their control (including invalid documents or undisclosed history).

11.3 You are responsible for complying with the laws and customs regulations of the places you visit, including limits on medications and restricted items.

12. Health, fitness and conduct

12.1 Our journeys involve walking, stairs and uneven surfaces (some sights, such as the Great Wall and Zhangjiajie, are physically demanding). Please tell us at the time of booking about any medical condition, disability, mobility limitation or dietary requirement that may affect your journey, so we can advise whether the itinerary is suitable and plan accordingly. If a condition emerges or is disclosed only after booking and makes the journey unsuitable, we will discuss options with you; if the journey cannot proceed, section 8 may apply.

12.2 Travellers under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. If a traveller under 18 will travel with only one parent, or with relatives or other guardians, border officials in Australia or China may occasionally ask for evidence of the relationship, or a consent letter from the parent who is not travelling — please check what your circumstances require before you travel.

12.3 If a traveller's behaviour, in the reasonable opinion of your guide or our local partner, causes danger, distress or material disruption, we may require that traveller to leave the journey. No refund is payable for unused services in that case, and any additional costs (including return transport) are the traveller's responsibility.

13. On the ground

13.1 Your guide may adjust the daily programme for weather, traffic, opening hours and ticket availability, keeping the included sights the same wherever reasonably possible.

13.2 No commissioned shopping stops. Your itinerary will not include shopping stops arranged for commission. If you ask your guide to take you shopping, anything you buy is a transaction between you and the seller; please check goods before paying, as we cannot obtain refunds from sellers.

13.3 Seatbelts are not fitted in all vehicles in China, and local driving conditions differ from Australia. Your luggage and personal belongings are your responsibility at all times.

13.4 If anything goes wrong during your journey, please tell your guide or contact us straight away — most problems can be fixed on the spot, and it is much harder to help after the fact.

13.5 Hotels in China commonly require a credit card pre-authorisation or a cash security deposit at check-in to cover incidentals. You are responsible for settling any incidental charges (such as minibar items, laundry or damage to the room) directly with the hotel before check-out, and for reimbursing us if any such charge is billed to us or to our local partners on your behalf.

14. Liability and Australian Consumer Law

14.1 Nothing in these terms excludes, restricts or modifies any rights or remedies you have under the Australian Consumer Law (Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth)), including the Consumer Guarantees, that cannot lawfully be excluded.

14.2 Subject to section 14.1 and to the fullest extent permitted by law, where our liability cannot be excluded but may lawfully be limited, our liability is limited to arranging for the relevant services to be resupplied, or paying the cost of having them resupplied.

14.3 Services in China are delivered by independent local suppliers. We take reasonable care in selecting reputable suppliers, but to the fullest extent permitted by law we are not liable for loss, damage, injury or delay caused by the acts or omissions of an independent supplier that were not caused by our negligence; claims of that kind must be made against the supplier.

14.4 To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, or for losses arising from arrangements you book independently of us (such as your own flights, accommodation or insurance).

14.5 We do not guarantee that every element of an itinerary will operate exactly as described where local conditions intervene; section 9 sets out what happens in those cases.

15. Privacy

We collect the personal information needed to arrange your journey (names as per passport, contact details, passport details where required for ticket booking, dietary and health information you choose to give us) and share it only with the suppliers who need it to deliver your journey, including suppliers in China. Suppliers in China are not bound by the Australian Privacy Principles, and we cannot guarantee they will handle your personal information in the same way as the Principles require. We expressly inform you that if you consent to this disclosure, Australian Privacy Principle 8.1 will not apply to it. By proceeding with a booking, you consent to us sharing your personal information with those suppliers for the purpose of arranging your journey. We handle personal information in accordance with our Privacy Policy and the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

16. Complaints

If you have a complaint, please raise it with your guide or with us during your journey first, so we have the chance to put it right. If it is not resolved, please write to us within 30 days of the end of your journey, with the details and any supporting documents, and we will respond promptly and fairly.

17. General

17.1 These terms are governed by the laws of New South Wales, Australia, and the parties submit to the jurisdiction of its courts.

17.2 Your contract consists of these terms and your written booking confirmation (which prevails if there is any inconsistency).

17.3 If any part of these terms is found unenforceable, the rest remains in effect.

17.4 We may update these terms from time to time; the version that applies to your booking is the version in force when your booking is confirmed.