National Museum of China, Beijing

National Museum of China tickets: price and what's included

The ticket is free — it's simply a timed reservation. Foreigners and Chinese visitors pay nothing for the permanent galleries, which is where the famous pieces are. Some temporary exhibitions charge separately; if one interests you, check the museum's site when you book.

You may spend money on an audio guide (around ¥48, according to Travel China Guide — not an official figure), a museum-guided tour, lockers, the café and the shop. These are usually paid by WeChat Pay or Alipay, which accept most foreign Visa and Mastercard cards once linked; keep a little cash in yuan as a backup.

Plenty of agencies sell “National Museum tickets”. What you get is the same free booking made in your passport name, plus their fee. It's only worth it when your date is sold out and you'd rather pay than miss it.

How to book the National Museum of China as a foreigner

1. Use the museum's official website, which has an English booking page with email registration, or the museum's WeChat mini-program. Guides disagree on whether WeChat booking needs a Chinese phone number, so the website is usually the easier route.
2. Verify your identity: enter your name and passport number exactly as printed, with the ID type set to passport (护照). The museum warns against unofficial booking channels and scalpers.
3. Pick a date up to 7 days ahead and one of three slots: 9:00–11:00, 11:00–13:30 or 13:30–16:00 (the last one runs to 16:30 from June to October). New dates are added at 17:00 Beijing time every day.
4. Add your group — up to 5 people per booking. Children aged 14 and under must be booked by an adult and enter with them. Each account gets one booking a week, and cancelled ones still count, so put everyone on the first one.
5. Save the confirmation or QR code. You can cancel until 15:00 on the day; three no-shows on the same ID trigger a 30-day booking ban.

National Museum of China opening hours

The museum opens Tuesday to Sunday, 9:00–17:00, with last entry at 16:00. From 1 June to 31 October it stays open until 17:30, last entry 16:30. It's closed on Mondays except on national public holidays; the museum posts its holiday schedule in advance, so check its notices.

It also closes now and then for events on Tiananmen Square — in 2025, for example, on the day before National Day. If a date simply never opens for booking, that's usually why.

The 9:00–11:00 slot is the pick: the Ancient China galleries are still quiet, and you're out in time for lunch and an afternoon elsewhere.

Do you need a Tiananmen Square reservation for the museum?

No. The museum and the square are separate bookings. The museum's North Gate faces Chang'an Avenue, outside the fenced square, and you walk to it straight from the metro. The museum's own pages say nothing about a square reservation, and travel guides confirm the museum booking is enough.

The reverse isn't guaranteed. Some guides say you can walk onto the square after your visit without a square booking; we found nothing official on that. If you want both on the same day, book both: the square for the morning or the flag lowering, the museum for a slot in between.

The grand colonnaded west facade faces the square, but individual visitors now go in only through the North Gate. Older guides mention a ticket office at the West Gate — that dates from the days before the all-reservation system.

What to see at the National Museum of China

• Ancient China — the core permanent exhibition, on the basement level (B1) according to guides. It walks through eight periods in order, from prehistory through the Shang and Zhou, Qin and Han, Tang, Song, and Ming and Qing. Short on time? Do just this, in about 90 minutes.
• The Houmuwu ding (once read as Simuwu) — a Shang dynasty bronze cauldron weighing about 833 kg, the heaviest ancient bronze known.
• The Four-Ram Square Zun — a Shang bronze wine vessel with a ram's head at each corner, one of China's most famous bronzes.
• The jade burial suit sewn with gold thread — Han dynasty, about 2,000 years old.
• The Hongshan jade dragon — a curled Neolithic jade, among the earliest dragon images.
• Themed galleries on porcelain, jade, Buddhist sculpture, money, costume and adornment, bronze mirrors and ancient food culture. Gallery numbers shift, so grab the floor plan inside.
• The Road to Rejuvenation — modern Chinese history from the mid-19th century on, upstairs. It's the official narrative, worth a look if you want to see how China tells its own recent story.
• Temporary exhibitions — listed at the entrance; some need a separate reservation.

Is the National Museum of China worth it, and how long do you need?

Yes, if ancient China interests you at all: this is the best single collection of bronzes, jade and ceramics in Beijing, it's free, and it's a cool refuge from summer heat right next to the square. Allow 1.5–2 hours for Ancient China alone and 2.5–3 hours with a couple of themed galleries; you won't see it all in a day.

If you only have a day or two and haven't done the Forbidden City, do that first — it's the bigger experience and the harder booking. English labels are short, so an audio guide or a good book makes a real difference. The Road to Rejuvenation galleries can feel repetitive without background in modern Chinese history.

A short history of the museum

The museum traces its origins to 1912, when a preparatory office for a National History Museum was set up in Beijing. Today's building went up in 1959 for the 10th anniversary of the People's Republic, together with the Great Hall of the People across Tiananmen Square. It housed two institutions: the Museum of Chinese History and the Museum of the Chinese Revolution.

They merged in 2003 as the National Museum of China. After a major rebuild that kept the old facades and added new galleries behind them, it reopened in March 2011. The building runs 313 m along the square and rises 40 m.

National Museum, Forbidden City or Tiananmen Square

All three need a real-name booking with your passport, and none covers another. On a first trip, put the Forbidden City first; add the museum when you want the backstory to everything else you see in Beijing.

Beijing's historic sights compared

Every historic sight in Beijing rated by YesGo. Tap a column heading to sort.

Nearby — add to your day

68

Tiananmen Square

Beijing, China

45 min · Free, passport booking · 6 min walk

Yes — add to my route: Tiananmen Square

55

Chairman Mao Memorial Hall

Beijing, China

30 min · Free, booking required · 7 min walk

Yes — add to my route: Chairman Mao Memorial Hall

49

Tiananmen Gate

Beijing, China

45 min · ¥15, concession ¥5, booking only · 9 min walk

Yes — add to my route: Tiananmen Gate

51

Great Hall of the People

Beijing, China

1 h · ¥30, students ¥15; WeChat booking · 11 min walk

Yes — add to my route: Great Hall of the People

How to do it right

• Set an alarm for 17:00 Beijing time exactly 7 days before your visit — that's when your date opens.
• Put your whole group on one booking: the account won't allow a second one that week.
• Take the 9:00–11:00 slot and head straight to Ancient China while it's quiet.
• Start in the basement: the headline pieces are there; do the upper floors as energy allows.
• An audio guide or a decent history of China transforms the visit — English labels are brief.
• Never plan it for a Monday, and check for closures linked to events on the square.
• Google Maps is blocked in China without roaming or a VPN — save an offline map and 国家博物馆 in characters.
• There's little food nearby: use the museum café or head one metro stop east to Wangfujing.

Questions