Could we give a copy of our passport to the hotel concierge who will be buying tickets for us? I would think all the Chinese people who make extra money performing the service of buying train tickets for visitors to China will be most unhappy that they will be losing their earnings from this job.
What about buying tickets at travel agencies instead of train stations-will they have to have the passport? This will be such a clusterf**k if truly implemented for leisure travelers. How are the tour companies going to handle this?