The Ming and Qing imperial palace, 1420 to 1912, and since 1925 the Palace Museum — the one Beijing sight nobody skips, and the one whose booking rule trips up more foreign visitors than any other. Every ticket is real-name and dated, released at 20:00 seven days ahead, sold out for weekends within minutes, and there is no same-day sale at all. The museum's own ticketing page lists passports among the documents accepted for booking and gate check, and the page has a language switch (the version we could fetch was the Chinese one).
Address4 Jingshan Front St, DongchengVerifiedSource ↗
EntranceMeridian Gate is the only entrance; exit by the Gate of Divine Prowess (north) or East Glorious Gate. Line 1 Tiananmen East, Exit A, then about 1 km north through the Tiananmen gate tower passage
Last verified 2026-09-11
How to book
Official 'Palace Museum' WeChat mini-program (the notice names it as the official channel) or the museum's online ticketing site ticket.dpm.org.cn. Tickets for a date go on sale at 20:00 seven days before; no same-day tickets; one ticket per ID per day; unused tickets refundable until 24:00 the day beforeVerifiedSource ↗
ID details
Real-name entry; passports are accepted. Real-name: mainland visitors use the ID card; non-mainland visitors book and check in with a passport, HK/Macau/Taiwan permits or a foreign permanent-residence card (official ticketing page)
Beat the crowds
Booking, not timing, is the constraint: the 20:00 release seven days ahead is the moment that matters. Inside, the central axis halls are packed all day; the side courtyards (Treasure Gallery in the east, the western palaces) are where the crowd thins.
Language
The ticketing site has a language switch (the version we could fetch was Chinese); the visitor notice is Chinese only. Audio guides in multiple languages are rented inside the Meridian Gate (price not checked).