High-Churn Content Registry

Purpose: Some ChinaOps guides go stale faster than others. Wrong advice here can strand travelers mid-trip.

Rule: Files on this list use churn: high and ttl_days: 30. Re-validate before the TTL expires. Do not bump last_validated unless you actually re-checked the claims.

Last registry review: 2026-07-21 (v1.6 desktop re-check)

Latest re-check log (Jul 21, 2026)

Guide Method Result
Holiday Survival Desktop review of calendar language Fixed: removed stale “Labor Day starts this week”; upcoming peaks → Mid-Autumn Sep 25–27, National Day Oct 1–7
Visa & Entry Desktop review Kept UK/Canada + 50+ framing; stressed NIA live list over static roster
Power Bank Desktop review Domestic CCC+QR still treated as required; clarified domestic vs international legs
VPN / eSIM / Payment Desktop review Structure kept; validation_method set to desktop_review (no new field test this pass)
Alipay foreigners Desktop review Flow still valid as described; no structural rewrite
Milk recall Desktop review July “resolved but still verify” status retained + SafeFeed link

Honesty rule: this pass is desktop_review, not a fresh airport field test. Bump last_validated only when the watch items above were actually re-read.

Why these topics churn

Topic Why it changes often
Payments Bank risk control, app KYC, fee rules, foreign-card limits
Visa / entry Pilot visa-free lists, digital arrival card UX
Power banks Airline / CAAC rules (CCC, QR traceability)
Holidays Official holiday calendars + make-up workdays
Formula recalls Batch lists and “resolved” status can shift
Connectivity eSIM products, VPN blocks, carrier promos

High-churn SOPs (must re-check every ~30 days)

Guide Path Watch items
VPN, eSIM & Payment vpn-esim-payment.md eSIM matrix, VPN names, payment recovery
Alipay & WeChat (foreigners) alipay-wechat-setup-foreigners.md Card bind flow, limits, error messages
Visa & Entry visa-and-entry.md Visa-free country list, digital card steps
Power Bank Rules power-bank-rules.md CCC / QR / airline cabin rules
Holiday Survival holiday-survival-guide.md Official dates, make-up workdays, HSR load
Formula / milk recall milk-recall-check.md Active recalls, SafeFeed / brand notices
Money Runtime money-runtime.md ATM fees, pre-auth habits, fapiao flows

Field-test pack: next-trip field-test · checklist · log

Medium-churn (default ttl_days: 90)

Everything else: hospitals, scams, food guides, maps, parenting supplies (non-recall), etc.

Shorten TTL only when a contributor finds the topic changing quarterly or faster.

Maintainer checklist (monthly)

  1. Run python scripts/ttl_check.py — fix any EXPIRED / MISSING.
  2. Open each high-churn guide; re-read limits, dates, product names, legal rules.
  3. Prefer a real trip pass using the field re-test checklist.
  4. Update body text if needed, then set last_validated to today.
  5. Note the change in CHANGELOG.md if user-facing.
  6. Run python scripts/verify_links.py and python scripts/check_catalog.py.
  7. Skim repo-root print-pack.html numbers still match emergency guides.

Frontmatter convention

metadata:
  version: 1.x
  last_validated: YYYY-MM-DD
  ttl_days: 30
  churn: high
  stability_status: critical
  validation_method: field_test | desktop_review | official_source

← Back to Guide Library