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Terms of service

Last updated: 30 April 2026. By creating a Qiao account or using the Qiao mobile app or website at qiaoguide.com, you agree to these terms. If you don’t agree, please don’t use the service.

1. Service description

Qiao (“the service”) is an AI relocation and adaptation platform built first for international students arriving to study in mainland China — and also useful for tourists, business travellers and new residents. Qiao provides:

  • An AI-personalised arrival guide tailored to your city and university.
  • A three-phase checklist (before arrival → first week → settling in) with progress tracking, streaks and XP.
  • Reminders pinned to your real arrival date for police registration, residence permit and visa renewal.
  • A curated city map of foreigner-friendly hospitals, banks, 24-hour pharmacies, canteens and metro.
  • A Chinese phrasebook with native-speaker audio across HSK 1–3 levels.
  • A context-aware AI helper available in English, Russian and Simplified Chinese.

Qiao is offered as a service, not a product you own. We may add, change or retire features. The free tier stays generous; some advanced features may move behind a paid subscription in the future, with clear notice.

2. Eligibility and accounts

You must be at least 16 years old to create an account. You agree to provide accurate information during onboarding (role, city, university, arrival date, Chinese level) so the AI can produce a useful plan, and to keep your password confidential. You are responsible for activity on your account.

3. User responsibilities and acceptable use

You agree to use Qiao kindly. You will not:

  • Scrape, copy or republish the phrasebook audio, the curated map or any other content without our written permission.
  • Attempt to bypass rate limits, reverse-engineer the AI prompts, or use the API in a way that imposes a disproportionate load on our servers.
  • Submit content that is unlawful, infringes intellectual property, harasses other people or violates the laws of your country or of the People’s Republic of China.
  • Use Qiao to facilitate fraud, spam, phishing or any activity that could harm others or the service.
  • Resell, sublicense or otherwise commercially exploit Qiao without our written agreement.

We can suspend or terminate accounts that violate these rules, abuse the service or put other users at risk.

4. AI disclaimer

Qiao’s plan, AI helper answers and recommendations are generated by a large language model. They are intended to give you a calm starting point — they are not professional advice. Like any AI, the model can make mistakes, produce out-of-date information, or be confidently wrong. Always cross-check important details (especially deadlines, fees and document requirements) with the relevant authority or your university’s international office before acting.

5. Visa, legal, medical and financial disclaimer

Qiao is not a law firm, medical provider, immigration agent or financial advisor. Information about Chinese visas, residence permits, police registration, university admission, healthcare facilities, banking, taxes and insurance is provided for general orientation only. You are solely responsible for:

  • Confirming visa requirements, validity and procedures with your local Chinese embassy or consulate and the Public Security Bureau (PSB).
  • Completing police (address) registration within 24 hours of arrival, applying for a residence permit on time, and renewing visas on time.
  • Choosing healthcare providers and following medical advice from licensed clinicians — not from Qiao.
  • Any decision based on the AI plan, including academic, financial and travel decisions.

Reminders inside Qiao are tools to help you remember — they are not a guarantee of compliance with Chinese law.

6. Data and content

Your data is handled per our Privacy policy. You retain all rights to the content you submit (your onboarding answers, your AI chat questions, your notes). You grant us a limited, non-exclusive licence to process this content solely to provide the service to you.

Our content — the Qiao name and logo, the curated city data, the phrasebook (text and audio), the AI prompts and the app interface — is owned by us or our licensors and protected by intellectual-property law. You may use it only through the app and website, for your personal, non-commercial benefit.

AI output — plans and chat answers generated for you are yours to use personally. You should not present AI-generated text as professional advice or as authored by us.

7. Account deletion and termination

You can delete your account at any time from the Profile screen (Settings → Delete account) or by emailing us at support@qiaoguide.com. Deletion removes your profile, onboarding answers, personalised plan, checklist progress and AI chat history within 30 days; encrypted backups roll off within 90 days.

We may suspend or terminate access if you breach these terms or if we are legally required to. We will give you reasonable notice unless the breach is severe or the law forbids it.

8. Payments, Qiao Pass and the deadline guarantee

The free tier is free permanently. Nothing is charged during the beta. From the full launch the paid options are Qiao Pass (USD 19 once for six months, or USD 29 per year), the First 7 Days Pack (USD 9.99 one-time) and individual services such as eSIM, insurance, bank-account introduction and Qiao Admission. Prices, term length and renewal behaviour are shown in the app before you confirm a purchase.

Purchases are processed by the Apple App Store, Google Play or a payment processor we name at checkout. Refunds follow the policy of the relevant store; outside the stores, refunds are at our reasonable discretion.

Deadline guarantee. If your Qiao Pass is active, a reminder for a deadline we track was due, we failed to deliver it, and the authorities fined you for that specific deadline, we will reimburse that fine up to USD 50 per Pass period. To claim, contact support within 30 days of the fine with the official notice and the email on your Qiao account. The guarantee applies only where all of the following are true:

  • Your arrival date, city and university in the app were correct and up to date at the relevant time.
  • Notifications from Qiao were enabled on your device and not muted or blocked at the operating-system level.
  • The deadline is one Qiao actually tracks for you (police or address registration, residence permit, visa renewal).
  • We did not deliver the reminder. A reminder that was delivered but not acted on is not covered.

The guarantee is a voluntary, capped reimbursement offered as part of Qiao Pass. It is not insurance, not a guarantee of any immigration outcome, and not an admission of liability. One claim per Pass period.

Ask a real person. Qiao Pass includes three requests per calendar month to a student curator in your city. We aim to reply within two hours between 09:00 and 21:00 local time; outside those hours we reply the next day. Curators are fellow students sharing practical experience, not licensed legal, immigration, medical or financial advisers, and section 5 applies to what they tell you.

Referrals. When someone signs up with your promo code, both of you receive seven days of Qiao Pass. Referral days have no cash value, cannot be exchanged or transferred, and are credited once the invited account completes sign-up. We may withhold referral days or close accounts where codes are used fraudulently or through self-referral.

9. Limitation of liability

The service is provided “as is” and “as available”. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Qiao and duor.digital are not liable for:

  • Indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, including loss of opportunity, data, savings or reputation.
  • Missed deadlines (e.g. police registration, residence permit, visa renewal), unsuccessful visa applications, incorrect medical or financial decisions, or any outcome of relying on AI-generated content. This exclusion is subject to the Qiao Pass deadline guarantee in section 8, which is capped and applies only on the conditions set out there.
  • Outages or interruptions caused by our hosting, AI or notification providers, or by network conditions in the country you are in.

Where liability cannot be excluded by law, our total aggregate liability is limited to the greater of (a) the amount you paid Qiao in the 12 months before the claim or (b) USD 50.

Nothing in these terms excludes liability for fraud, gross negligence, or anything else that cannot lawfully be excluded.

10. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms when the service or applicable law changes. When we make material changes we update the “Last updated” date and, if the change is significant, notify you by email or in-app banner. Continued use of Qiao after the effective date constitutes acceptance.

11. Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of the European Union and of the studio’s country of registration, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules. We will try to resolve any dispute amicably first — please email us before escalating.

12. Contact

For questions about these terms, write to us at support@qiaoguide.com.