8 cities
Beijing
🏯 Forbidden City (Palace Museum)
Real-name reservation required — no third-party resellers are authorized. The official channel is the Palace Museum WeChat mini program; a passport works directly for both booking and entry.
What you need to know
- No same-day tickets: tickets (including the Treasure Gallery and Clock Gallery) drop 7 days ahead at 20:00 and are valid for the selected day only
- Closed Mondays (except public holidays); peak season (Apr 1–Oct 31) CNY 60, off-season CNY 40, Treasure Gallery / Clock Gallery CNY 10 each
- Visitors from outside mainland China book and enter with a passport or a Foreign Permanent Resident ID Card; one ticket per document per day
- Single entrance at the Meridian Gate (south side); exits are the Gate of Divine Prowess (north) or the East Prosperity Gate (east); morning slots must enter by 12:00
- The Tiananmen Square area is one-way traffic only; if you are heading straight to the Forbidden City, take the East or West Tongzihe (moat-side) road to reach the Meridian Gate directly
How to book
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WeChat mini program 「故宫博物院」 (Palace Museum mini program)
Passport accepted
Register with your passport number in the mini program → pick a date and time slot → buy with your passport number; at the gate, scan your original passport and pass the face check
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Official website ticket.dpm.org.cn (online booking)
Passport accepted
The website's booking portal shares the same ticket inventory as the mini program
Sources
🧱 Great Wall: Mutianyu & Badaling
Badaling requires real-name reservations; Mutianyu draws many international visitors and its ticketing is friendly to foreign documents — cable car and toboggan tickets can be bought on site.
What you need to know
- Badaling: book with real-name registration on the official Badaling Great Wall mini program or the official ticketing site; holiday tickets go fast, so grab them as soon as they drop
- Mutianyu: buy on the official website or the official WeChat account, or purchase with your passport at the on-site ticket windows
- Avoid public holidays at both sections; set out early to dodge the 10:00–14:00 crowd peak
How to book
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WeChat mini program 「八达岭长城」 (Badaling Great Wall mini program)
Passport accepted
Make a real-name reservation and buy tickets with your passport number
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Mutianyu official website mutianyugreatwall.com
Passport accepted
Your passport works for both online purchase and on-site ticket windows
Sources
ℹ️ Beijing: General Booking Rules
The National Museum of China (free, advance real-name reservation), Tiananmen Square (reservation and security check) and the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall all have separate reservation channels.
What you need to know
- Almost every top sight uses real-name booking through official mini programs or official accounts — there is no on-site ticket fallback
- Release schedules differ: Palace Museum tickets drop 7 days ahead at 20:00; the National Museum usually releases its 7-day window at 17:00
- A passport is accepted on all official channels; if a system takes Chinese ID cards only, go to the on-site comprehensive service window for manual handling
- Closed Mondays is the museum norm; the Palace Museum and the National Museum open as usual on public holidays with larger quotas