Since March 1, 2014, Chinese official ticketing website 12306.cn has implemented identity verification, which was said to improve real-name policy and crack down scalpers. Chinese passengers can do the verification online or at railway stations, and there is barely influence to their train travel. However, the new policy brings great trouble to foreign travelers.

The biggest problem is that some foreign passengers are refused to collect their tickets at railway stations because of the inconsistency between the names on their passports and in online booking system:

As we know, there are spaces in foreign names and some have symbols like a hyphen or an apostrophe, such as Catherine Zeta-Johns and Conan Christopher O'Brien. The online booking system, however, does not accept these symbols. So Catherine Zeta-Johns turns to Catherine Zeta Johns and the apostrophe of Conan Christopher O'Brien is omitted. 

Passenger information: hyphen and apostrophe are not accepted

Name column only accepts 30 characters

A name on passport

If you are told that you cannot collect your tickets because your name on passport is different from the one in booking information, you can only cancel your booking and rebook at railway station.

The new policy also brings trouble to travelers who plan more than five train rides in China. According to the identity verification policy, foreign passengers are allowed to book no more than five tickets before they have their identities checked. So these travelers can only book five tickets and purchase the rest after they do the verification at a Chinese railway station. The problem is that Chinese railway tickets are available 20 days in advance and many will be soon sold out, so it is impossible for foreign travelers to get tickets after their arrival in China.

Foreign passengers' identity verification status is "to be checked"

In addition to the above mentioned problems caused by new the policy, you may also encounter some unexpected trouble as the conductors, the performers of the policy, may have different understanding to the new policy. Language barriers will also bring misunderstanding in communication. You can only ask for help from your agency if you encounter these problems.
 

Registration information: the last column is  phone number, and only a Chinese mobile phone number is accepted.