A commission-paying shop/restaurant is one that pays local tour operators and ground handlers to bring tourist traffic to their business. The tourism business model in China has long depended on commissions paid by shops/restaurants to compensate for revenues lost through deep discount tour pricing. You need to be concerned about this since shops and restaurants which ‘pay for customers’ typically pay correspondingly little attention to product/service quality – as captive customer revenue is guaranteed by virtue of the commission arrangement. To be clear, Imperial Tours’ guests do not frequent such places.