Tiananmen Square, Beijing

Do you need a ticket or reservation for Tiananmen Square?

There's no ticket: the square is free, but you can't walk in without a real-name reservation for a specific date and time slot. Bookings open 1–7 days ahead, with each new date released at 12:00 noon Beijing time, according to the Beijing government. Same-day booking isn't possible, so sort it out at least the day before.

There are four slots: flag raising (from before sunrise until the ceremony ends), morning (until noon), afternoon (until the flag-lowering session) and flag lowering (towards sunset). You must turn up on your booked date and in your slot — a morning booking won't get you into the flag ceremony.

The fenced square has checkpoints on every side. Staff scan your QR code, check your original passport against the booking and put bags through an X-ray. Guides say you can't re-enter once you leave, so see what you came for before heading out.

Some guides report that a same-day booking for the Mao Mausoleum, National Museum or Forbidden City can get you onto the square in daytime. We found nothing official on this — book the square separately.

How foreigners book Tiananmen Square with a passport

1. Install WeChat and update it to the latest version, as the Beijing government advises. Search for 天安门广场预约参观 and open the official mini-program with the state emblem — not the paid “booking agent” listings.
2. Choose an individual booking, a date within the next 7 days and a slot: 升旗 (flag raising), 上午 (morning), 下午 (afternoon) or 降旗 (flag lowering).
3. The form is in Chinese. Change 证件类型 (ID type) from the Chinese ID card to 护照 (passport), or your passport number won't save.
4. Enter your name exactly as printed, the passport number without spaces, your nationality and a mobile number for the SMS code. Foreign numbers work, but codes can be slow.
5. One form takes up to 10 people. Add children too — minors must be booked.
6. Screenshot the QR code. If the app defeats you, most hotel front desks will book it with your passport details.

Tiananmen Square opening hours and flag raising time

The square is open daily from 5:00 to 22:00, but you're admitted only in your booked slot. The flag goes up exactly at sunrise and comes down at sunset, so the times shift every day — in early November it's around 6:45 up and 17:15 down, and in summer the raising is far earlier. The Tiananmen Area Administration Committee publishes each day's times, which Visit Beijing reposts; check the night before.

For the raising, the square opens roughly an hour before sunrise and the best spots by the flagpole go early. The ceremony itself lasts only a few minutes, as the honour guard marches out of Tiananmen Gate. If a pre-dawn start doesn't appeal, book the flag-lowering slot instead: it's quieter, and the evening light on the gate is the best of the day for photos.

Around Chinese public holidays — especially the first week of October — flag slots go within minutes of release.

What to see on Tiananmen Square

• Tiananmen Gate — the red wall and golden roof with Mao's portrait and two slogans: “Long live the People's Republic of China” and “Long live the great unity of the peoples of the world”. Marble bridges cross the moat in front.
• The national flagpole at the north end, facing the gate, where the dawn and dusk ceremonies happen.
• Monument to the People's Heroes — the granite obelisk, almost 38 m tall, at the centre of the square. The front inscription is in Mao's hand; reliefs around the base show China's struggles from 1840 to 1949. It is sometimes fenced off.
• Mao's Mausoleum — the square, colonnaded hall in the southern half, open mornings only by separate booking.
• The Great Hall of the People — the parliament building whose colonnade runs the length of the west side.
• The National Museum of China on the east side, home to one of the country's great collections of antiquities.
• Zhengyangmen (Qianmen) — the old city gate beyond the mausoleum, with pedestrianised Qianmen Street behind it.

Tiananmen Gate tower, Mao Mausoleum and National Museum: separate bookings

Tiananmen Gate tower — climb to the rostrum where the People's Republic was proclaimed. Tickets are ¥15, concession ¥5, booked through the official WeChat account 天安门城楼参观预约 or Jingtong. Tickets for the next 7 days are released at 17:00; there are no same-day sales. Closed on Mondays except public holidays. Local guides give 8:30–16:30 from November to March, with last entry at 16:00, and to 17:00 from April to October. The route is one-way: from the gate you exit north towards the Forbidden City, not back to the square.

Mao Mausoleum (Chairman Mao Memorial Hall) opens Tuesday to Sunday, 8:00–12:00. Entry is free; book 1–6 days ahead in the 毛主席纪念堂预约 mini-program. Leave bags and cameras in the lockers near the square. The line moves fast and you file past without stopping.

National Museum opens Tuesday to Sunday, 9:00–17:00, last entry 16:00, staying open to 17:30 from June to October. Book on the museum's website up to 7 days ahead; tickets release at 17:00. Enter by the North Gate, from Tiananmen East station, Exits C or D.

The gate tower is paid in WeChat Pay or Alipay, which accept most foreign Visa and Mastercard cards once linked; Russian-issued cards don't work in China.

Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City: how they connect

They sit on one axis. From the square, take the underpass beneath Chang'an Avenue to Tiananmen Gate, walk through its central arch, past Duanmen Gate and on to the Meridian Gate (Wumen), the south gate of the Forbidden City. Allow about 15 minutes from the middle of the square, plus security.

The Forbidden City is a separate, passport-linked booking on the Palace Museum website, with no same-day sales: ¥40 from November to March, ¥60 from April to October, closed Mondays. A good order is the square first, the Meridian Gate for the 8:30 opening, then the view over the palace roofs from Jingshan Park by the north exit.

Is Tiananmen Square worth it, and how long do you need?

Yes, if you treat it as the front door to the Forbidden City rather than a sight in its own right. The square itself is an enormous paved space with no shade, few seats and a lot of security; 45 minutes is plenty. What makes it memorable is the scale, the gate with its portrait, and above all the flag ceremony at dawn or dusk.

Add the gate tower, the mausoleum and a walk north into the Forbidden City and it fills a morning or a whole day. If you're short of time, skip the mausoleum and book the Forbidden City first — it's the harder ticket to get.

A short history of Tiananmen Square

The gate came first. It was built in 1420 as Chengtianmen, the southern entrance to the Imperial City, fronted by a narrow walled courtyard closed to ordinary people. Destroyed in 1644, it was rebuilt and in 1651 renamed Tiananmen, the “Gate of Heavenly Peace”.

On 1 October 1949 Mao Zedong proclaimed the People's Republic from the gate, and his portrait has hung there ever since. In 1958–59 the old walls were cleared, the square was enlarged to roughly today's size, and the Great Hall of the People and the museum went up on either side. The Monument to the People's Heroes was unveiled in 1958 and the mausoleum opened in 1977.

The square has hosted parades and mass rallies.

Square, gate tower, mausoleum or museum

Only the square is open every day from dawn to night; the rest close on Mondays. On a first visit the square and the gate tower on your way into the Forbidden City are enough. The mausoleum is for those curious about 20th-century China; the museum deserves its own half day.

Beijing's historic sights compared

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

Nearby — add to your day

49

Tiananmen Gate

Beijing, China

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

Yes — add to my route: Tiananmen Gate

44

National Museum of China

Beijing, China

2 h 30 min · Free, passport booking · 6 min walk

Yes — add to my route: National Museum of China

51

Great Hall of the People

Beijing, China

1 h · ¥30, students ¥15; WeChat booking · 6 min walk

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

55

Chairman Mao Memorial Hall

Beijing, China

30 min · Free, booking required · 7 min walk

Yes — add to my route: Chairman Mao Memorial Hall

How to do it right

• Set an alarm for 12:00 Beijing time exactly 7 days out — weekend and holiday flag slots go fast.
• Arrive an hour before your slot: weekend security lines are slow.
• Do the square first, then walk north through Tiananmen Gate into the Forbidden City — you never have to double back.
• The mausoleum closes at noon, so make it your first stop if you want to go.
• Google Maps is blocked in China without roaming or a VPN — save an offline map and 天安门广场 in characters.
• For photos of the gate, book the flag-lowering slot: the evening sun lights up the portrait and the red wall.
• Pair it with the Temple of Heaven, about 25 minutes away by metro via Dongdan.

Questions