For a Palace visit alone, book the official passport ticket for your actual date and approach Meridian Gate from the Donghuamen or Xihuamen side along East or West Tongzi River Road; no Tiananmen Square visit is needed. For a separate Square visit, an older Square-authority rule recognises some valid same-day Palace or National Museum bookings as Square-entry credentials, while newer guidance describes a dedicated reservation 1–7 days ahead. The lower-risk choice is to reserve the Square separately when possible, or confirm that the exception applies to your date, session and entrance before choosing that Square-entry route. A Square entry record never grants Palace or National Museum admission.
Book through the official passport route first. Treat Tiananmen Square as a separate itinerary choice, not a prerequisite for reaching Meridian Gate.Open the official Palace Museum passport ticket route. Use the visit date and original passport you intend to carry.
Choose the route before you book
- StageA · BOOK
- Traveller job
- Advance official booking
- Action
- Use the Palace Museum international ticket site with the passport you will carry. For your actual visit date, count back seven calendar days and open the site before the 20:00 Beijing-time release.
- Decision
- Choose a museum-open day. Do not wait for the visit day.
- StageB · ENTER
- Traveller job
- Palace Museum only
- Action
- From the east: Donghuamen (东华门) → East Tongzi River Road (东筒子河路) → Meridian Gate (午门). From the west: Xihuamen (西华门) → West Tongzi River Road (西筒子河路) → Meridian Gate. Donghuamen and Xihuamen are approach points, not visitor entrances; follow on-site notices for temporary diversions.
- Decision
- Do not cross Tiananmen Square unless the Square itself is part of the plan.
- StageC · COMBINE
- Traveller job
- Tiananmen Square + Palace Museum
- Action
- If the Square itself is part of your day, first check whether a valid same-day Palace or National Museum reservation qualifies under the Square authority's published exception for your intended date, session and entrance. If that cannot be confirmed, make the Square's own 1–7-day reservation and align it with your Palace ticket. Follow current security directions; the Square credential never replaces the Palace ticket.
- Decision
- Use this only when the Square itself is part of the plan.
Count back seven days from your visit
Ticket sales are scheduled to open at 20:00 Beijing time seven calendar days before the visit. Choose a museum-open date and check temporary notices before its release.
- MomentSeven days before the visit · before 20:00
- Completed action
- Open the official international site; prepare each traveller's exact passport name and number; decide morning or afternoon.
- MomentSeven days before the visit · 20:00 Beijing time
- Completed action
- Book your actual visit date’s base ticket first. Add the Treasure Gallery or Clock Gallery only if wanted.
- MomentAfter payment
- Completed action
- Confirm date, time band, passenger count and every passport number. Save the order reference offline.
- MomentBy 24:00 on the day before the visit
- Completed action
- Use the current official cancellation route for an unused ticket; check the live order page for the resulting cancellation or no-show record.
- MomentYour confirmed visit date
- Completed action
- Carry the original booking passport. Morning tickets must check in by 12:00; afternoon entry starts at 11:00.
Five checks that prevent a gate failure
- CheckIdentity
- Current official rule
- A non-mainland visitor may book with a passport. Enter each traveller exactly as the official order form requires and carry the original document.
- CheckEntry document
- Current official rule
- Carry the original passport used to book. The Beijing 12345 answer directs foreign visitors to the manual ticket-check channel at Meridian Gate.
- CheckEntrance route
- Current official rule
- From the east: Donghuamen (东华门) → East Tongzi River Road (东筒子河路) → Meridian Gate (午门). From the west: Xihuamen (西华门) → West Tongzi River Road (西筒子河路) → Meridian Gate. Donghuamen and Xihuamen are approach points, not visitor entrances; follow on-site notices for temporary diversions.
- CheckWrong order details
- Current official rule
- Use the current official order, refund or support route immediately. Whether any field can be changed must be confirmed on the live order page.
- CheckCancellation record
- Current official rule
- The published time boundaries distinguish cancellation, late cancellation and the resulting no-show record. Check the live order rule before acting; do not treat every cancellation as the same no-show.
Price and hours: the international visitor page currently lists CNY 60 from April through October and CNY 40 from November through March, plus CNY 10 each for the Treasure and Clock galleries. The museum is normally closed Monday except national holidays. Recheck both before paying.
Six worked traveller cases
Foreign passport, ordinary visit
- Conditions
- Your target is a museum-open date; the traveller can use the official international site.
- Result
- Book at the 20:00 Beijing-time release seven days before that date, save the confirmed session, carry the same original passport and enter at Meridian Gate.
No mainland phone number
- Conditions
- The traveller assumes a Chinese mobile number is required because another Beijing attraction asks for one.
- Result
- Use the Palace Museum international site. The staff-assisted on-site purchase answer in the same 12345 FAQ applies to the Summer Palace, not the Palace Museum.
Palace Museum only
- Conditions
- The traveller does not need to visit Tiananmen Square.
- Result
- From the east: Donghuamen (东华门) → East Tongzi River Road (东筒子河路) → Meridian Gate (午门). From the west: Xihuamen (西华门) → West Tongzi River Road (西筒子河路) → Meridian Gate. Donghuamen and Xihuamen are approach points, not visitor entrances; follow on-site notices for temporary diversions. Do not create a Square-reservation dependency.
Square and Palace on one morning
- Conditions
- Both are intentional itinerary stops.
- Result
- Treat Square and Palace as two purposes. Use a confirmed eligible-booking exception for Square entry only if the current Square authority accepts it for your entry, or make the separate Square reservation. Carry the Palace booking and original passport for Meridian Gate either way.
Official inventory sold out
- Conditions
- Traveller posts claim foreign-passport holders may still buy at a window on the day.
- Result
- Treat the Palace as unavailable. The official rule requires advance admission and says there are no same-day ticket sales; a traveller’s gate story does not create a ticket.
The itinerary changes
- Conditions
- The visit cannot happen on the booked date.
- Result
- Open the live order and cancellation rule immediately. Use the official refund or support route, then rebook only if new-date inventory is confirmed.
Four recovery cards
Website, account or payment fails
- Trigger
- The official order will not submit or payment does not confirm.
- First action
- Stop duplicate attempts and check whether an order already exists for the passport.
- Alternative
- Retry the official international site with a second network or payment method.
- Escalation
- Call official ticket support on 400-950-1925 between 08:00 and 20:00 Beijing time with the order reference and passport details; ask staff how to resolve that order.
Sold out or no confirmation
- Trigger
- No official order is confirmed for the intended date.
- First action
- Check whether the seven-day release has occurred. If the released date is unavailable, do not travel to the gate without a confirmed advance ticket.
- Alternative
- Move the Palace to another date if official inventory appears. Jingshan and Beihai are separate paid park visits: confirm the open gate and passport purchase route, then buy each park’s own ticket.
- Escalation
- Ask official ticket support to check the order status; avoid reseller claims of an inventory override.
Wrong passport, date or time
- Trigger
- The confirmation does not match the traveller or intended visit.
- First action
- Open the live official order page and use its correction, refund or support route.
- Alternative
- Rebook the correct record only if inventory remains.
- Escalation
- Contact official support before creating a second passenger record; do not assume the gate will edit the order.
The approach or visit plan breaks
- Trigger
- The Square entry credential is missing or unconfirmed, a security approach is closed, or the Palace booking is cancelled or invalid.
- First action
- If the Palace booking remains valid and only Square entry fails, use the current signed East or West Tongzi River Road approach to Meridian Gate with the original booked passport; Donghuamen and Xihuamen are approach points, not museum entrances. If Palace admission itself is cancelled or invalid, do not travel to Meridian Gate expecting entry. Check the official refund, support and new-date booking route instead.
- Alternative
- If the Palace visit cannot happen, use the refund boundary and replace the day rather than forcing the Square route.
- Escalation
- Follow on-site police or museum staff directions; route access is live operational information.
Before you act
Can I buy Forbidden City tickets at the gate?
The current official notice says the Palace Museum does not sell same-day tickets. Build the trip around advance official inventory.
Do I need Tiananmen Square to enter the Forbidden City?
No. For the Palace alone, approach Meridian Gate along East or West Tongzi River Road from the Donghuamen or Xihuamen side; those side gates are approaches, not museum entrances. If you also choose to visit Tiananmen Square, a valid same-day booking for an eligible attraction may satisfy the Square authority's published exception, but its newer dedicated-booking notice still governs the ordinary reservation route. Reserve the Square separately when possible or confirm the exception for your exact entry, and keep the Palace ticket and original booked passport for museum admission.
Can I book without a mainland Chinese phone number?
Use the official international Palace Museum site with a passport. The staff-assisted on-site purchase answer sometimes quoted from Beijing 12345 applies to the Summer Palace portion of that FAQ, not the Palace Museum.
What if the passport, date or time is wrong after booking?
Use the current official order, refund or support route immediately. Whether a field can be changed must be confirmed on the live order page; do not assume the gate will correct a mismatch.
Use the official booking and entry channels
For a dedicated Square visit, make its 1–7-day reservation or obtain authority confirmation that an eligible attraction booking covers your exact date, session and entrance. For the Palace alone, use the East or West Tongzi River Road approach to Meridian Gate. Neither Square pathway grants museum admission. If the Palace order is missing, use official order support or choose another day before travelling to the gate.