FEC vs Passport for travel within China

Specifically, can you buy train tickets and be admitted to train stations using only a Foreign Experts Certificate as your travel document?

I'll be doing a passport renewal soon and among other things I'll have to travel back from the relevant consulate without a passport in hand. The foreign affairs office says sure an FEC will work fine as a travel document, but they are only truly careful when it's their arse on the line, not mine.

Can anyone confirm?

Make CERTAIN to get some sort of receipt showing why you don't have your passport.  The police are always kind enough to give me one during annual res permit renewals, but I don't know if Embassies and Consulates are some helpful.  A high quality copy of the old passport may also come in handy.

Suggest buying the tickets before giving up the passport.  Then you only have to worry about throwing enough papers at the gate guard to make him give up and let you through.

I'll definitely be pre-purchasing the tix. But train tickets get your travel document number printed on them, don't they? If I buy with the passport, but try to get on with the FEC..... I'm hoping I can buy with the FEC too. Others (but of a more copacetic nationality (Russian)) say they have purchased high speed rail tickets with an FEC....


Forgot about photocopying the passport. I'll do that too.