Most 5A tourist attractions in Beijing no longer require reservations

All 5A tourist attractions in Beijing, except for the Palace Museum and Prince Kung’s Palace Museum, no longer require reservations following a Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism proposal to improve tourism services on Jun 27.

Beijing boasts 10 5A-rated tourist attractions, including the Palace Museum, Temple of Heaven Park, Badaling and Mutianyu sections of the Great Wall, Ming Tombs, Old Summer Palace, Summer Palace, Beijing Olympic Park, Prince Kung’s Palace Museum, and Grand Canal Cultural Scenic Area in Tongzhou District.

On contacting the Palace Museum's customer service, it was confirmed that visitors still need to reserve and purchase tickets through the museum's mini-program.

Similarly, Prince Kung’s Palace Museum requires online ticket reservations, although a provision is made for senior citizens to purchase tickets directly at the visitor service center. 

For all other 5A-rated attractions, staff confirmed that on-site ticket purchases are possible. 

Notably, the Beijing Olympic Park and Grand Canal Cultural Scenic Area are open to the public for free.

Some popular 4A-rated scenic spots, including Xiangshan Park, National Botanical Garden, Beijing Happy Valley, Beihai Park, Confucius Temple and the Guozijian (imperial college) Museum allow for on-site ticket purchase without reservations. The Capital Museum requires online reservations for general visitors, with an exemption for those aged 60 and above. 

However, some tourist attractions that are not 5A-rated, including the National Museum, Great Hall of the People, the Military Museum of the Chinese People’s Revolution, Peking University, and Tsinghua University, etc, still mandate advance visitor reservations.