As LHR/MEL/Europe FF already explained: No, that's not the worst that could happen. Yes, you could still have the legal flight out of China that you _could_ be forced to take. Or they _could_ pretty much decide you've tried to cheat them white and do actions they think are appropriate.

I found Chinese authorities to be somewhat flexible if you approach them in the right way (No, I don't mean corruption, I simply mean being honest if something went different that you originally planed it) - let's assume that, for example, you had a non-refundable flight AMS-PEK-SIN, but while in PEK a close relative of you (in AMS) has a terrible accident and you need to get back to AMS asap. Contacting the authorities might very well end in a solution that allows you to change TWOV into even taking a direct flight back (or by informing them that your plans changed flying something like PEK-FRA) - but you need to talk to them. In such case, of course if you're running into someone grumpy it might still not be possible, but if approached by something like "Something bad happened - could you help me?" _BEFORE_ you actually try to sneak something under their eyes they might be much more willing to actually help you then when you are catched red handed.

But if they feel like you're cheating on them - good luck to you! That poor chap that was cheated by Expedia and/or the Airline (United?) when he missed his connection in PEK didn't do it intentionally, assume they notice you do it intentionally.. it won't end well!

Also, I don't think you should be calling it "bureaucratic silliness".

China is one of the very few countries running such generous TWOV.

Russia? LOL
The USA? Good luck!
Schengen? Nope. They won't even let Indians in who have an overnight connection when their plane went tech.