I came to Shanghai from another city. I went to the Foreign consulate in Shanghai to apply for a visa and they took my passport. Prior to that, I asked the consulate reps whether it would be a problem to travel without original passport. They assured me the copy of passport would do and didn’t provide me any paper slip that my passport is taken.

WeChat Official Accounts: ExpatRights
http://expatrights.org/2018/08/no-train-or-bus-tickets-without-original-passport-in-shanghai/

I went to the bus station because I wasn’t sure about the train, but even for the bus ride to city 1 h away from Shanghai they refused to accept my copy of passport and neglected any explanation. They asked to give them original passport or Chinese ID. I had to use car service to get there, but I really don’t know how other foreigner are supposed to travel when their passport is taken. Not everyone lives in Shanghai. Anyone experience same situation maybe in other cities?