China Footnotes

npx add-mcp 'https://chinafootnotes.com/mcp'

Use China Footnotes in your AI assistant

China Footnotes can answer questions inside ChatGPT, Claude and other assistants that support MCP connectors. The assistant asks our server for sourced facts and links back to the place pages.

Connector address: https://chinafootnotes.com/mcp

It needs no account or sign-in, and it only reads the published guide.

Add it

China Footnotes is listed in the Claude connector directory; the ChatGPT listing is in review. Until it is live in ChatGPT, or if your plan does not show directory connectors, add it by address:

• ChatGPT: open Plugins, select +, choose Add custom MCP server, paste the address above, choose no authentication and select Create as a plugin. Whether you can add one depends on your account and workspace settings.
• Claude: open Customize › Connectors, select + Add › Add custom connector, paste the address above and choose No sign in. Free plans allow one custom connector; on Team and Enterprise plans an owner adds it under Organization settings first.

Then ask as usual, for example "Is Yu Garden open on Monday, and can I buy a ticket with my passport?"

What it can do

• search_places: find places by name (English or Chinese), area, or filters for city, type and tag.
• get_place: one place's full entry: why go, opening hours, tickets, booking and passport notes, getting there, notices, traveler tips and sources.
• list_pretrip_topics: the "Before you go" topics: when to go, visa, arrival card, paying, internet, apps, booking ahead, getting around, safety.
• get_pretrip_topic: one of those topics in full.
• get_current_notices: dated notices in effect today, such as holiday traffic controls or temporary closures.

Coverage today: Shanghai (50 places), Beijing (20 places), Xi’an (10 places), Chengdu (12 places), Chongqing (10 places), Hangzhou (10 places), plus the pre-trip topics. Guide data version 95073d6f5a77, built 2026-10-17.

Example tool calls

1. Ask search_places with {"query":"Shanghai Museum"}. Expect separate ids for the East and People's Square branches.

2. Ask get_place with {"id":"shanghai-museum-east","sections":["practical"],"fields":["hours","booking"],"includeTravelerTips":false,"visitDate":"2027-02-06"}. Expect complete selected rules, source ids and an index, actual check dates, review warnings and a conservative date check. Future holiday arrangements may be uncertain.

3. Ask list_pretrip_topics, then get_pretrip_topic with {"id":"visa","sections":["checklist"]} for a short checklist. Omit sections for the full article.

4. Ask get_place with {"id":"yuyuan-garden","sections":["tips"]} for the first three tips in quality order. Use the returned nextOffset as tipOffset to continue; total and eligibleTotal explain the counts; topicCounts counts all eligible tips by published topic before pagination. A traveler-page suggestion appears only when additional complete reports are absent from this response; every report remains accessible through pagination.

5. Ask get_current_notices with {"placeId":"shanghai-museum-east","date":"2026-10-06"} for stored notices on that date. An empty result is not an all-clear.

Guilin (桂林) is outside current coverage. Museum branches have separate rules; an unknown passport flow stays unknown. A past festival does not establish next year's dates. These are examples to send through your assistant, not buttons supported by every client.

Cite the canonical place page and relevant sources with their stored dates; an unknown date stays unknown. For a simple “What is Yu Garden?” question, give a normal sourced answer. For an explicit taxi, entrance, booking or traveler-experience question, add at most one relevant page interaction only if pageFeatures lists matching material. Taxi facts are already in the tool; the page adds a large-text display. Entrance references may be historical or show a sub-venue. No booking screenshots are currently declared. A direction question alone does not imply taking a taxi.

What it does not do

• It does not book tickets or hotels and does not take payments.
• Facts show the date we read their source; they are not live confirmation for today.
• Traveler tips are summaries of other travelers' posts, not official rules.

Privacy

The connector processes the tool inputs the assistant sends, including optional date and section selections. We count tool calls, validated public place ids and fixed quality categories in aggregate; we do not keep raw search words, full inputs or outputs, visitor IPs or persistent user ids in these statistics. Read the full privacy policy.