China · Beijing · Attractions

Forbidden City tickets with a foreign passport — the complete guide

The Palace Museum is the single most competitive ticket in China: online only, released at 20:00 exactly seven days before your visit, and on peak dates the morning session can vanish in minutes. The good news — foreign passports are fully supported, and the English booking site needs no Chinese phone number. Here is the whole process, timed to the minute.

Official channel	English booking site: bookingticket.dpm.org.cn — or the Palace Museum WeChat mini-program
Tickets released	20:00 Beijing time, exactly 7 days before the visit date
Same-day tickets	None. Ever. No on-site ticket sales
Closed	Mondays (except national holidays)
Documents	Passport for every visitor; up to 5 visitors per order
Entry	Meridian Gate (Wǔmén 午门), south side only — scan your passport

In peak season and on holidays, the popular morning slots can disappear within minutes of the 20:00 release, and the daily cap is strictly enforced. Be logged in, with every visitor's passport details already saved, before the clock hits 20:00.

A few days before release night, register on bookingticket.dpm.org.cn with your email — foreign visitors do not need a Chinese phone number or WeChat for the website route.
Add every visitor in advance: full name (exactly as in the passport) and passport number.
On release night, be ready at 19:55 Beijing time. At 20:00, select your date and session (morning entry before 12:00, afternoon from 11:00).
If your session shows sold out, keep refreshing for the first hour — unpaid and returned tickets reappear. Also try the afternoon session.
Pay immediately. An unpaid order does not hold your tickets for long.

Morning or afternoon session?

Morning entry is calmer, cooler and gives you the full day — it is also what everyone else wants. The afternoon session (entry from 11:00) is the pressure valve: on sold-out dates it often still has room, and the palace empties noticeably after 15:00. If your date matters more than the hour, take the afternoon without regret.

Pitfalls

Touts and "agents". No third party is authorised to sell Forbidden City tickets. "Guaranteed tickets" from touts or chat-app agents are a classic scam — and never send a photo of your passport to a stranger.
No-show strikes. Unused tickets can be refunded free until 24:00 the day before your visit — but late cancellations and no-shows are recorded, and repeated strikes can block you from booking for a period. Cancel properly; never just don't show up.
One-way route. Entry is only through the Meridian Gate, and the route is one-way — you exit at the north gate (Gate of Divine Prowess). You cannot re-enter.
Tian'anmen Square, right in front of the palace, needs its own separate reservation (1–7 days ahead). A palace ticket does not get you into the square, or vice versa.

On the day: bring the same physical passport you booked with. If the automatic gates do not read your passport, use the foreign-visitor / manual check channel at the Meridian Gate. Mornings are calmer and cooler.

Official Palace Museum map of the Forbidden City's open areas, showing the central axis from the Meridian Gate to the Gate of Divine Prowess — **Official map of the Palace Museum's open areas.** The standard one-way route runs south to north: enter at the Meridian Gate (bottom of the map), exit at the Gate of Divine Prowess (top). Shaded areas are not open to visitors. Source: The Palace Museum — dpm.org.cn. Map © The Palace Museum, reproduced for reference.

The full China walkthroughs, in one PDF

This page is the Forbidden City chapter. The complete China Travel Ticket Guide (13 pages) adds the Panda Base, Zhangjiajie and 12306 with the same step-by-step detail, plus the combined booking timeline and full FAQ.

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Forbidden City FAQ

It sold out at 20:03. Is there really no other way in?

Keep refreshing for the first hour — unpaid orders release their tickets back. Try the afternoon session, and try shifting your visit by a day. What does not exist is a legitimate side channel: anyone selling "guaranteed" palace tickets is running a scam.

Do children need their own booking?

Yes. Every visitor, including children, needs a real-name booking against a document — for foreign children, their own passport. Add them to the same order (up to 5 visitors) so you enter together.

I booked, then renewed my passport. Problem?

Your booking is tied to the old passport number. Rebook against the new passport if you can; if you are already travelling, carry both passports — staff can usually match the booking to the old number and your identity to the new one.

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Still stuck? That's what the concierge is for

If a booking defeats you — a verification that will not pass, a sold-out date you cannot move — the Full Trip Ticket Concierge builds your whole Japan & China ticket plan in writing: exact release minutes, channels, seats, trains and backups, delivered within 72 hours of your request form.

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Booking rules change frequently — always confirm on the official channel before you book. Prices are deliberately not quoted here; check the official site for current figures. This is an independent guide and is not affiliated with the Palace Museum. Last updated: October 20, 2026.