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 relying on it. 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.Choose the route before you book
| Stage | Traveller job | Action | Decision |
|---|---|---|---|
| A · BOOK | Advance official booking | Use the Palace Museum international ticket site with the passport you will carry. For Sunday 11 October 2026, inventory is scheduled to open Sunday 4 October at 20:00 Beijing time. | Default route. Do not wait for the visit day. |
| B · ENTER | Palace Museum only | 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 cross Tiananmen Square unless the Square itself is part of the plan. |
| C · COMBINE | Tiananmen Square + Palace Museum | 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. | Use this only when the Square itself is part of the plan. |
Sunday 11 October 2026, calculated
Ticket sales are scheduled to open at 20:00 Beijing time seven days before the visit. Recheck the live page before release because temporary adjustments remain possible.
| Moment | Completed action |
|---|---|
| Before 20:00 · Sun 4 Oct | Open the official international site; prepare each traveller's exact passport name and number; decide morning or afternoon. |
| 20:00 · Sun 4 Oct | Book the Sunday 11 October base ticket first. Add the Treasure Gallery or Clock Gallery only if wanted. |
| After payment | Confirm date, time band, passenger count and every passport number. Save the order reference offline. |
| By 24:00 · Sat 10 Oct | Use the current official cancellation route for an unused ticket; check the live order page for the resulting cancellation or no-show record. |
| Sun 11 Oct | 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
| Check | Current official rule |
|---|---|
| Identity | A non-mainland visitor may book with a passport. Enter each traveller exactly as the official order form requires and carry the original document. |
| Entry document | Carry the original passport used to book. The Beijing 12345 answer directs foreign visitors to the manual ticket-check channel at Meridian Gate. |
| Entrance route | 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. |
| Wrong order details | Use the current official order, refund or support route immediately. Whether any field can be changed must be confirmed on the live order page. |
| Cancellation record | 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
- Sunday 11 October visit; the traveller can use the official international site.
- Result
- Book at 20:00 Beijing time on 4 October, 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
- Recent traveller posts claim foreign-passport holders may still buy at a window on the day.
- Result
- Treat the Palace as unavailable. The current official rule says no same-day ticket sales; an anecdote is not inventory or an entry guarantee.
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; this check does not verify email booking or a special manual-booking channel.
Sold out or no confirmation
- Trigger
- No official order is confirmed for the intended date.
- First action
- Treat the date as unavailable; do not travel to the gate on a promise of guaranteed same-day access.
- Alternative
- Move the Palace to another date if official inventory appears. Jingshan and Beihai are separate paid park visits: check the current open gate, passport purchase route and available ticket before travelling; neither is guaranteed admission because the Palace is sold out.
- Escalation
- Ask official ticket support to check the order status, not a reseller to override inventory.
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.
Official rule outranks the gate anecdote
Key guidance checked on . recheck the official rules before relying on this page. The Square authority's published attraction-booking exception has not been shown to be repealed. Its newer notice describes a dedicated 1–7-day Square reservation. We recommend that separate reservation for a dedicated Square visit when eligibility or the entrance procedure cannot be confirmed; the Palace-only East or West Tongzi River Road approach avoids creating a Square dependency. Neither Square pathway grants museum admission. Recheck the current authority and exact booking before travel. No dated purchase, payment, inventory or gate field test was completed.