How to Book Tickets for China's Big Attractions: The Reservation System, Explained

Published 2026-10-22 · 71Asia Tours

Walk-up tickets are mostly gone

I still meet travellers who plan China the way people planned it in 2015: turn up at the Forbidden City around ten, buy a ticket at the window, walk in. That plan fails now, and it usually fails in a way that costs you a whole morning. Nearly every headline sight in the country runs on a real-name reservation system, and the ticket window, when it still exists, is often just the place where someone tells you to go book online.

The system isn't complicated once you see its logic. It's just unfamiliar, and it's almost entirely in Chinese.

What real-name booking actually means

One passport, one ticket, one entry window. Your passport number goes on the booking, staff scan the document at the gate, and the name has to match. Book for two people and you enter two passport numbers. Mistype one digit and you have paid for a ticket nobody can use.

The entry window is the part foreigners underestimate. A 9:00 to 11:00 slot on your ticket is not a suggestion. Arrive at 11:20 and the reader may refuse you, with no refund waiting on the other side.

Passport details exactly as printed, middle names included.
A phone that receives SMS or runs WeChat, since most official booking channels are WeChat mini programs.
A payment method that works. Alipay or WeChat Pay with a foreign card attached usually does, and a few official sites take Visa or Mastercard directly.
Twenty minutes of patience on release day.

Tickets drop seven days ahead, at a set hour

Most big sites release inventory seven days before your visit date at a fixed time, and decent slots vanish in minutes over holidays. The Forbidden City, the Chengdu Panda Base and the Terracotta Army all run on roughly that rhythm. Potala Palace in Lhasa is tighter: a small daily quota, a timed entry, and a visit staff expect you to finish within the hour.

So set an alarm for a week before, not the morning of. Type your passport numbers into a note first, so you can paste them instead of hunting for the document.

The places where booking is not optional

Beijing's Forbidden City caps daily visitors and sells out a week out in autumn. Xi'an's Terracotta Army is booked online with a passport, and the same-day queue at the gate is for people who enjoy standing. Chengdu's Panda Base wants a reservation even in low season. Shanghai Museum is free but requires a slot, which surprises people who assume free means open. Zhangjiajie sells a multi-day park pass that you activate on first entry. Lhasa's Potala Palace is the strictest of the lot.

Outside the mainland the rules loosen. Hong Kong's M+ has free general admission and no booking. Macao's forts, churches and old lanes are open to anyone walking past. Taipei's National Palace Museum sells tickets at the door, though buying ahead saves you the queue on weekends.

One pattern worth memorising: closed Mondays

Most state museums close on Mondays. The Forbidden City, Shanghai Museum, Shaanxi History Museum and Taipei's National Palace Museum all follow it, with exceptions around public holidays. I have watched people plan a three-day Beijing trip around a Monday and lose the palace entirely. Check the day before you lock the itinerary, not after.

When it says sold out

Sold out is often temporary. A share of every daily quota comes back as cancellations, usually the evening before or early on the day, so it is worth reopening the mini program at 8am with your passport already copied. Hotels with a concierge can sometimes book on your behalf using your passport details. Trip.com sells many of the same tickets with a markup and English support, which is a fair trade if your Chinese is thin and your time is short.

What I would not do is buy from a reseller on a marketplace app. Tickets are tied to a passport number, so a ticket bought against someone else's document is worthless to you, and the versions where someone offers to book it with your passport for a fee sometimes fail at the gate with no refund.

Tibet is a different animal

You cannot book Tibet independently. You need a registered agency, a permit arranged before you fly or board the train, and a licensed guide with you for the whole stay. Potala Palace tickets usually come through that agency, which is one reason DIY travellers find Lhasa so frustrating. If Tibet is on your list, treat the booking as part of the trip design, not an afterthought.

Small things that trip people up

Name order. Chinese systems often expect surname first. If your booking fails validation, try swapping.
One phone, one account. A family of four usually needs four passport numbers on one order, not four separate accounts.
Screenshots of QR codes expire. The code refreshes, so keep the app open at the gate.
No re-entry. Leaving for lunch means buying again, and the afternoon quota may be gone.
A handful of smaller sites still ask for a mainland phone number. This is where a hotel front desk earns its keep.

How I would plan it

Pick your four or five must-see sights first, then work backwards: note each one's release window, put the dates in your calendar with an alarm, and book them in one sitting a week before you land. Everything else in China you can decide on the day, and honestly, the unbooked hours are usually the ones people remember.

Written by the team at 71Asia Tours, a China-based tour operator with licensed Spanish- and English-speaking guides. Browse all tours · About us · Our guides · Reviews · FAQ