# Drum and Bell Towers, Beijing

> The Drum and Bell Towers kept Beijing's official time for centuries. They stand 100 m apart at the north end of the Central Axis, near the Shichahai lakes. A combined ticket is ¥30. From late October they open 9:30–16:30, until 17:30 in season, and drummers perform on the hour. Allow an hour for both steep climbs.

Web page: https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/beijing-drum-and-bell-towers

- City: [Beijing](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing), China
- YesGo score: 34/100 (Yes, if nearby)
- Time on site: 1 h
- Entry: ¥30 for both towers
- With kids: Fine with kids
- Combined ticket: ¥30, concession ¥15
- Drum Tower only: ¥20, concession ¥10
- Bell Tower only: ¥10 in the Beijing government's July notice; ¥15 on its Central Axis page
- Hours from 26 October: 9:30–16:30: combined ticket until 15:30, single until 16:00, last entry 16:20
- Hours in season: 9:30–17:30: combined ticket until 16:30, single until 17:00, last entry 17:20
- Season starts: 26 March in Beijing government notices; 26 April on some official pages
- Public holidays: Everything runs half an hour later at Spring Festival, May Day and National Day
- Mondays: The Drum Tower's ground-floor exhibition hall is closed (except holidays); the towers stay open
- Drumming shows: On the hour; guides list 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16 and, in season, 17:00, with a break at noon
- Light show “Resonance”: In the passage under the Drum Tower, hourly, about 8 minutes
- Booking: WeChat account 北京钟鼓楼, or the ticket office on the day; bring your passport
- Paying: Cash, or Alipay / WeChat Pay linked to a foreign card
- Metro: Line 8, Shichahai, Exit A2 — about 5 minutes’ walk north
- Address: No. 9, Zhonglouwan Hutong, Dongcheng (钟楼湾胡同临字9号)
- Coordinates: 39.94019, 116.38964
- Facts checked: 04.11.2026

## Key facts

- **¥30** — combined ticket for both towers; the Drum Tower alone is ¥20 (source: Beijing government (english.beijing.gov.cn), July notice and Central Axis page)
- **Every hour** — drummers in traditional dress perform on the Drum Tower’s upper floor (source: The Beijing News, October 2025; Travel China Guide)
- **1272** — the first towers went up under the Yuan dynasty, when the city was called Dadu (source: English and Chinese Wikipedia; Visit Beijing)
- **1420** — the Drum Tower was rebuilt on its present site after the Yongle Emperor moved the capital here (source: Chinese and English Wikipedia; The Beijing News)
- **1745** — the Qianlong Emperor began rebuilding the Bell Tower entirely in brick and stone (source: Chinese Wikipedia; The Beijing News; Visit Beijing)
- **46.7 m** — height of the Drum Tower including its platform (source: Visit Beijing; Chinese Wikipedia)
- **47.95 m** — height of the Bell Tower — slightly taller than its neighbour (source: Visit Beijing; Chinese Wikipedia)
- **25 drums** — once stood upstairs — one main drum and 24 smaller ones; only the main drum survives (source: Visit Beijing; English and Chinese Wikipedia)
- **≈ 100 m** — between the towers, one behind the other on the north–south line (source: Visit Beijing; Chinese Wikipedia)
- **108 strikes** — marked nightfall: 18 fast, 18 slow, 18 in between, three times over (source: Visit Beijing; Chinese Wikipedia)
- **1924** — the towers stopped keeping official time after Puyi was expelled from the palace (source: English and Chinese Wikipedia)
- **2024** — both towers were inscribed by UNESCO as part of the Beijing Central Axis (source: Chinese Wikipedia; Beijing government)

## Drum and Bell Towers tickets and prices

Get the **combined ticket for ¥30** — it covers both towers. The Drum Tower alone is ¥20. The Bell Tower’s single price differs between official sources: ¥10 in the Beijing government’s July notice, ¥15 on its Central Axis page. Either way the combined ticket costs no more than two singles.

Concession tickets are half price: ¥15 combined, ¥10 for the Drum Tower. The English-language official pages don’t spell out who qualifies, so ask at the window with your ID.

Tickets are sold through the **北京钟鼓楼** WeChat account (Beijing Bell and Drum Towers) or at the ticket office on the day. Bring your passport — the ticket office asks for it. Pay in cash or with Alipay or WeChat Pay linked to a foreign card; that is what works for most visitors in China.

> **The combined ticket stops selling an hour before closing** From late October the towers close at 16:30, but combined tickets go off sale at 15:30, single tickets at 16:00 and the last entry is 16:20. Two climbs with the walk between take about an hour, so arrive by 15:00. On major holidays everything shifts half an hour later.

## Opening hours, Mondays and drum performance times

From 26 October the towers open **9:30–16:30**. In the warm season they stay open **until 17:30**, with combined tickets until 16:30, singles until 17:00 and last entry at 17:20. Official pages disagree on when the season begins: recent government notices say 26 March, older reference pages 26 April.

Are they open on Monday? Official timetables list no closing day. On Mondays (except holidays) only the ground-floor exhibition hall in the Drum Tower is shut. One English-language guide says the whole site closes on Mondays, so check the WeChat account if Monday is your only day.

The **drumming show** is the reason to come. Drummers in traditional costume perform on the hour on the Drum Tower’s upper floor. Guides list shows at 10, 11, 13, 14, 15 and 16:00, plus 17:00 in season, with a break at noon; the day’s schedule is posted at the entrance. Climb up ten minutes early to stand by the drums rather than behind the crowd.

## How to get to the Drum and Bell Towers

1. From Tiananmen Square, take **Line 1** from Tiananmen East one stop to **Wangfujing**.
2. Change to **Line 8** and ride four stops north — Jinyu Hutong, National Art Museum, Nanluoguxiang — to **Shichahai**. About 30 minutes in total.
3. Leave by **Exit A2** and walk north up Di’anmenwai Dajie for about five minutes; the red Drum Tower closes the end of the street.
4. Buy tickets at the office or scan your WeChat QR code, and start with the Drum Tower — that’s where the drummers play.
5. The Bell Tower is 100 m north, across the square.
6. Alternatively, take **Line 2 or 8** to **Gulou Dajie**, Exit G, and walk about 10 minutes south to the Bell Tower. Buses 82 and 135 stop at Gulou (鼓楼).
7. By taxi or DiDi, show **北京鼓楼** — about 4 km north of the square as the crow flies. Afterwards, Yandai Xiejie and [Houhai Lake](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/houhai-lake) are a few minutes’ walk away.

## Is it worth visiting the Drum and Bell Towers?

If you’re exploring the Shichahai hutongs, yes: ¥30 buys an hour of history, a live drum performance and a view over old Beijing’s rooftops that you can’t get from the street. Short on time? **The Drum Tower alone** is enough — it has the drums, the show and the exhibition, and you see the Bell Tower right in front of you from its balcony.

Both staircases are very steep and narrow. With a toddler in your arms or bad knees, the climb is hard work; the towers look just as good from the square below, for free.

The view is not as sweeping as from [Jingshan Park](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/jingshan-park) — you look over hutongs, not the palace. What you get instead is the living old city: courtyard houses, lane roofs and the lakes. It isn’t worth crossing Beijing for the view alone; for the drums, and combined with the [hutongs](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/beijing-hutongs), it is.

## What were the towers for?

The **Drum Tower** (Gulou) and **Bell Tower** (Zhonglou) were Beijing’s public clock under the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. At nightfall drum and bell struck 108 times — 18 fast, 18 slow, 18 in between, three rounds — to close the city gates and start the night watches. They kept official time until 1924.

The first towers went up in 1272 under the Mongol Yuan dynasty. Today’s Drum Tower stands where the Yongle Emperor rebuilt it in 1420: red, timber-framed, with a triple-eaved roof on a tall masonry base. The Bell Tower burned more than once, and in 1745 the Qianlong Emperor had it rebuilt entirely in brick and stone — which is why it looks grey and austere.

Together they close the northern end of the **Central Axis**, the line that runs south through Jingshan, the Forbidden City and Tiananmen to the old southern gate, inscribed by UNESCO in 2024. Inside today: an exhibition on timekeeping, the drums, and a huge bronze bell cast in the Yongle era.

## What to see inside

- **The drums upstairs in the Drum Tower** — a row of big new drums and the one surviving original main drum.
- **The drumming show** on the hour — short and loud, by drummers in traditional costume.
- **The Drum Tower balcony** — grey hutong roofs all round, the Bell Tower close by and, on a clear day, Jingshan Hill to the south.
- **The timekeeping exhibition** on the Drum Tower’s ground floor — how the city kept time; closed on Mondays.
- **“Resonance” (共鸣)**, an eight-minute light show in the passage under the Drum Tower, hourly.
- **The Yongle-era bronze bell** hanging from a timber frame under the Bell Tower’s vault.
- **The square between the towers** — the best shot of both at once, and free.

## Before you go: checklist

- [ ] Passport with me — the ticket office asks for it
- [ ] Cash, or Alipay / WeChat Pay with a foreign card
- [ ] From late October, at the ticket office by 15:30 for the combined ticket
- [ ] Know the next drumming show — on the hour
- [ ] Shoes with grip for steep stairs
- [ ] If it’s Monday — the exhibition hall is shut
- [ ] About an hour set aside for both towers

## Drum Tower, Jingshan or the TV tower: best views of Beijing

|  | Drum and Bell Towers | Jingshan Park | Central Radio & TV Tower |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| The view | Hutong roofs and the Shichahai lakes | Forbidden City roofs along the axis | The whole city from 238 m |
| Entry | ¥30 for both towers | ¥2 | ¥90 |
| Hours from November | 9:30–16:30 | 6:30–20:00 | 8:30–22:00 |
| Time needed | ≈ 1 h | ≈ 45 min | ≈ 1 h |
| Metro | Shichahai, Line 8 | Shichahai or Nanluoguxiang | Xidiaoyutai, Line 10 |

For the classic palace panorama pick Jingshan; for sunset and the city at night, the TV tower. The towers are for hutong walkers who want the drums.

## Beijing viewpoints compared

Every viewpoint in Beijing rated by YesGo.

- [Tiananmen Gate](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/tiananmen-gate) — YesGo score 49/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 45 min · ¥15, concession ¥5, booking only
- [Houhai Lake and Shichahai](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/houhai-lake) — YesGo score 38/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · Free
- [Jingshan Park](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/jingshan-park) — YesGo score 37/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 45 min · ¥2, ¥10 during exhibitions
- [Drum and Bell Towers](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/beijing-drum-and-bell-towers) — YesGo score 34/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · ¥30 for both towers
- [Beihai Park](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/beihai-park) — YesGo score 33/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h · ¥5–10, ¥15–20 with the island
- [Summer Palace](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/beijing-summer-palace) — YesGo score 33/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 3 h 30 min · ¥20–30, ¥50–60 through ticket
- [Olympic Park and Bird's Nest](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/beijing-olympic-park) — YesGo score 30/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · Park free; Bird's Nest ≈ ¥50–100
- [Central Radio & TV Tower](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/beijing-tv-tower) — YesGo score 29/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · CNY 90
- [Great Wall at Badaling](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/badaling-great-wall) — YesGo score 27/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 3 h · ¥40 entry; ¥35 November–March
- [Great Wall at Juyongguan](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/juyongguan-great-wall) — YesGo score 20/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h 30 min · ¥35 entry; ¥40 April–October
- [Great Wall at Mutianyu](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/great-wall-mutianyu) — YesGo score 19/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 4 h · ¥40–45 entry; cable car ¥100–140
- [Gubei Water Town and Simatai Great Wall](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/gubei-water-town) — YesGo score 16/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 4 h · ¥140 entry; ¥170 with Simatai wall
- [Longqing Gorge](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/longqing-gorge) — YesGo score 16/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 4 h · ¥40, boat ¥100

## Nanluoguxiang, the towers and Houhai in half a day

Nanluoguxiang in the morning, the towers and a drumming show around midday, then Yandai Xiejie, the lakes and Prince Gong’s Mansion. Add them to your route — YesGo fits in the timing and transfers.

1. [Nanluoguxiang](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/nanluoguxiang) — YesGo score 40/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free, open 24 hours
2. [Drum and Bell Towers](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/beijing-drum-and-bell-towers) — YesGo score 34/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · ¥30 for both towers
3. [Beijing hutongs](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/beijing-hutongs) — YesGo score 42/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · Free; rickshaw about ¥100–200
4. [Houhai Lake and Shichahai](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/houhai-lake) — YesGo score 38/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · Free
5. [Prince Gong's Mansion](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/prince-gong-mansion) — YesGo score 33/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · ¥40, book ahead with passport

> **Come at opening time** At 9:30 the stairs are clear and the first drumming show is easy to watch up close. By midday the narrow stairs get busier. A morning at the towers runs straight into a hutong walk and lunch by the lakes.

## Good to know

Xi’an has a famous Bell Tower and Drum Tower too — a different city, about a thousand kilometres away, with its own tickets and hours, so check you are reading about Beijing. In Beijing, “Gulou” can mean the tower itself, Gulou Dajie street or the metro station.

## Tips

- Buy the combined ticket — it costs no more than two singles and saves a second queue.
- Do the Drum Tower first, timed for the top of the hour, then the Bell Tower while the drummers rest.
- The best photo of both towers is from the square between them or from the start of Yandai Xiejie.
- Pair the towers with the Shichahai hutongs and an evening at Houhai — it’s all walkable.
- Save the Chinese names: 鼓楼 (Drum Tower), 钟楼 (Bell Tower), 什刹海 (Shichahai) — Google Maps doesn’t work in China without a VPN.
- The stairs are steep: come down facing the steps and take your time.

## Questions

### How much are tickets for the Drum and Bell Towers?

¥30 for the combined ticket (¥15 concession) and ¥20 for the Drum Tower alone. The Bell Tower alone is ¥10 in the government’s latest notice, ¥15 on another official page.

### What time is the drum performance?

On the hour. Guides list 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16 and, in season, 17:00, with a break at noon. The day’s schedule is posted at the entrance.

### What are the opening hours?

From 26 October, 9:30–16:30, with combined tickets until 15:30 and last entry 16:20. In season, 9:30–17:30, combined tickets until 16:30.

### Are the Drum and Bell Towers open on Monday?

Official timetables list no closing day; only the Drum Tower’s ground-floor exhibition hall shuts on Mondays (except holidays). One guide says the whole site closes, so check the 北京钟鼓楼 WeChat account.

### Do I need to book in advance?

You can buy through the 北京钟鼓楼 WeChat account or at the ticket office on the day. Bring your passport — the ticket office asks for it.

### How do I get to the Drum Tower?

Metro Line 8 to Shichahai, Exit A2, then about five minutes north. Or Line 2 or 8 to Gulou Dajie, Exit G, and about 10 minutes south.

### Drum Tower or Bell Tower — which should I climb?

If you only do one, the Drum Tower: it has the drums, the show and the exhibition. Add the Bell Tower for the huge Yongle-era bell — on the combined ticket it costs little extra.

### How long do you need?

About an hour for both towers including a drumming show; half a day with the hutongs and Houhai.

### Is it good for kids?

Yes, but the stairs are very steep and narrow, so carrying a small child is hard. Children usually love the drumming.

### Where are the towers?

In Dongcheng district at the north end of the Central Axis, by the Shichahai lakes, about 4 km north of Tiananmen Square.

## How we checked

The English core comes from search results and related questions: tickets and price, opening hours, drum performance times, Mondays, how to get there, is it worth it, Drum Tower vs Bell Tower. Combined and Drum Tower fares, hours, ticket office times and the Monday rule come from the Beijing government. The Bell Tower’s single fare differs between official sources — ¥10 in the July notice, ¥15 on the Central Axis page — so we show both. The start of the summer season differs too: 26 March in the 2025 and 2026 notices, 26 April on reference pages. We found no official drumming timetable: The Beijing News says “on the hour”, Travel China Guide lists hourly shows with a noon break, other guides every half hour from 9:30, so the row is marked checking. Sources disagree on the bell’s weight (42 t in Chinese Wikipedia, 63 t at Travel China Guide), so we leave it out, and on when the Bell Tower rebuild finished (1747 or about 1757), so we give only the 1745 start.

## Sources

- Beijing government (english.beijing.gov.cn): Bell Tower reopening notice with fares, July; pages Landmarks along the Central Axis and Beijing's Bell and Drum Towers — hours, ticket office times, Mondays, address
- Beijing Release (北京发布) via Guangming Online, 25.03.2025: in-season ticket office times
- The Beijing News (新京报), October 2025: drumming shows, light show, exhibitions, rebuilding dates
- Visit Beijing (北京旅游网, official portal): tower pages from 2019, 2022 and 2023
- English Wikipedia: Drum Tower and Bell Tower of Beijing, Shichahai and Gulou Dajie stations; Chinese Wikipedia: 北京鼓楼和钟楼; Wikidata Q2741116
- Travel China Guide (updated 29.09.2026) and China Tripedia — drumming schedule, buses
- YesGo China notes — payment for foreign visitors

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