Palace Museum booking & entry
Palace Museum booking & entry in Beijing: what to check, how to ask staff, and where to confirm the current rules. Practical guidance with original sources.
Use this guide to prepare your questions. Confirm the current rule with the venue before booking or travelling. These notes are under local and language review; they do not guarantee entry, ticket availability or a refund.
Find your situation
- Start a Palace Museum booking
- Choose a date and time
- Check every visitor’s passport details
- Choose admission and extra galleries
- Before leaving: check the booking
- Show my passport booking at the Palace Museum
- My order says pay on site
- Find the correct Palace Museum entrance
- Phone, login or page error
- Unavailable date or sold out
- Payment failed or booking uncertain
- Change plans or leave the museum
Start a Palace Museum booking
When: Before you start
Use the official international ticket site for a foreign passport. Prepare your email and each visitor’s passport; enter private details only on the official site.
Try this free Chinese cardChoose a date and time
When: Before you start
Use Beijing time (UTC+8). The official booking notice gives a seven-day window with release at 20:00; check the live calendar and closure notices before choosing.
View the phrase cardCheck every visitor’s passport details
When: Before you start
Match names, document type and numbers to each original passport. Check every person, including children, in the official form; this tool never collects passport numbers.
View the phrase cardChoose admission and extra galleries
When: Before you start
Check the admission ticket separately from the Treasure and Clocks galleries and any special exhibition. Select only the extras you want, then verify the order before paying.
View the phrase cardBefore leaving: check the booking
When: Before you start
Check venue, date, time slot, visitors and payment state in the original order. Carry the original document used to book. Keep your confirmation accessible on your own phone, not in this app.
View the phrase cardShow my passport booking at the Palace Museum
When: At the Palace Museum, with the passport used for your booking.
Show your actual reservation and original passport. This card cannot book admission or guarantee entry.
View the phrase cardMy order says pay on site
When: At the location
Use this only when your actual reservation says on-site payment. Keep the booking and original passport ready. Ask staff for the exact payment point and deadline; this is not permission to arrive without a booking.
View the phrase cardFind the correct Palace Museum entrance
When: At the location
The Palace Museum, Tian’anmen Square and Tian’anmen Tower are different places. Confirm your destination and current access route; Palace Museum passport checks are at Meridian Gate. Do not assume one booking covers every site.
View the phrase cardPhone, login or page error
When: When something goes wrong
Check that you are on the official international site, using its email sign-in. If an error remains, keep the exact message and use official support; a phone error alone does not mean tickets are sold out.
View the phrase cardUnavailable date or sold out
When: When something goes wrong
Read the calendar status: not released, closed and sold out are different. Check another date or official support. Do not travel assuming an unbooked same-day ticket will be available.
View the phrase cardPayment failed or booking uncertain
When: When something goes wrong
Open the original official order before trying to pay again. Check its date and payment status; a bank message alone is not booking confirmation. Only follow the on-site payment branch if your order says so.
View the phrase cardChange plans or leave the museum
When: When something goes wrong
For changes or refunds, return to the channel that issued the order and read that order’s rules. Check extras separately. Before leaving, ask whether your ticket allows re-entry; do not assume it does.
View the phrase card