First: is it really sold out?
Before you change your plans, check these four things. Most “sold out” panic is one of them.
- Is your date on sale yet? Each date opens at 20:00 Beijing time (UTC+8), 7 days before the visit. If your visit is 8 or more days away, grey dates mean “not yet”, not “gone”. Use our ticket release-times table or the time-zone calculator and reminder on the Forbidden City page.
- Is it a Monday? The museum is closed on Mondays (except national holidays) and on Chinese New Year’s Eve, so those dates never open.
- Did you give up too early on release night? The museum does not release a day’s tickets all at once. It releases them by hand, in batches, after 20:00 — partly to filter out scalper bots. Beijing Daily reported visitors had more success around 20:40 than at 20:00 sharp. Keep the booking page open until about 21:00 before you give up on that date.
- Did you check both sessions? Morning sells out first. The afternoon session (check-in from 11:00) often lasts longer and still gives you most of the day — last entry is 16:00 from April to October, 15:30 from November to March.
Also rule out a technical problem: the email code in your spam folder, a typo in a passport number, or a passport that already has a ticket for that date (one ticket per passport per day).
Really sold out: what to try, in order
- Take the afternoon session on the same date if it shows any stock.
- Move the Forbidden City to another day. Tuesday–Thursday is easier than weekends, and Chinese holidays (Golden Week 1–7 October, Labour Day in early May, the summer school holidays) are the hardest. Swap it with something that is walk-up — Summer Palace or Temple of Heaven — so you can catch a later 20:00 release.
- Don’t wait for cancellations. Some blogs say to refresh for returned tickets. The museum itself has said refunded tickets do not go back into the pool. A stray ticket may still appear, but don’t plan around it.
- Email the museum. Its English ticket page lists bookingticket@dpm.org.cn for international visitors: send the full name as in the passport, passport number and intended date for each person, at least one calendar day ahead and within the 7-day window. This helps most when the website won’t work for you. It won’t create tickets on a fully booked holiday, and a reply is not guaranteed.
- Book a guided tour that includes entry. The museum keeps a separate ticket pool for licensed travel agencies, and those tickets must be used on a guide-led group visit. So a real guided tour can sometimes still get you in when the public pool is empty. Choose a tour where a guide takes you in. Check that it asks for your passport details and refunds you if entry can’t be secured. Big platforms such as Trip.com’s Palace Museum page list tours like this — read each product’s inclusions, because the museum has authorised no third-party sellers of plain admission tickets.
- Last resort: the same-day passport window. Official policy is “no same-day tickets”. The museum has also said it can offer same-day window help to inbound visitors who struggle to book or pay online. In 2025–2026, travellers with foreign passports reported buying at the window by the Meridian Gate (Wumen), with the passport as the ticket. Queues ranged from none to 90+ minutes, and it may not work at all. Go early, outside holidays, and only if losing the morning is acceptable.
Which move fits your situation
| Your situation | Best move |
|---|---|
| Visit is 8+ days away | Not on sale yet. Set a reminder for 20:00 Beijing time, 7 days before. |
| Release night, “Sold out” at 20:05 | Keep the page open until ~21:00 (batch release); try the afternoon session. |
| Date full, flexible itinerary | Swap days; target a Tuesday–Thursday release. |
| Website won’t accept your details | Email bookingticket@dpm.org.cn at least a day ahead; message us for a second pair of eyes. |
| Last day in Beijing, date full | Guided tour that includes entry, or try the Meridian Gate window early (off-peak only). |
| Golden Week / national holiday | Assume no window luck. Do the outside view (below) and book another date if you can. |
Can’t get in? Make the day still count
- Jingshan Park — directly north of the palace. Walk-up, about CNY 2 (CNY 10 during exhibitions), and you show your passport at the gate — no online booking needed. Climb to Wanchun Pavilion for the classic view over the golden roofs. Open 06:00–21:00 in high season.
- The moat and the Corner Tower — free. Walk the palace moat from the north-east corner for photos of the Corner Tower (Jiaolou), especially near sunset.
- Tiananmen Square — free, but it needs its own reservation 1–7 days ahead (dates refresh at 12:00). See the Tiananmen reservation guide. A square booking does not get you into the palace, and a palace ticket doesn’t reliably get you into the square.
- National Museum of China — on the east side of the square. It’s free with an English portal and email login, and tickets release at 17:00 up to 7 days ahead. See the National Museum guide.
- Beihai Park — an imperial lake garden next to Jingshan. Buy at the gate with your passport.
- Lama Temple or the walk-up Beijing parks if you’d rather fill the day with another imperial site.
Sources: Palace Museum English visit page (no same-day tickets, closed Mondays, 40,000 daily cap, passport for online booking). Booking Instructions on bookingticket.dpm.org.cn (20:00 release 7 days ahead; free refund before 24:00 the day before, refunds before 20:00 on the day count as a no-show; 3 no-shows in 180 days = 60-day ban). The museum’s English ticket page as indexed in Oct 2026 (email booking for international visitors). Beijing Daily via CNR, 21 Aug 2024, quoting museum staff (batch release after 20:00, refunds do not return to the pool, separate agency and individual pools, same-day window help for inbound visitors). Traveller reports on r/chinatravel and r/travelchina, 2025–2026. Our attraction data last verified 6 Oct 2026.
Stuck on a screen, or not sure which backup fits your trip? Message Xiaocong on WhatsApp — free travel-info help, no booking fee.
Also: How to book Forbidden City tickets (main guide) · release times · booking without a Chinese phone · Beijing hub.
Main guide: how to book Forbidden City tickets →
FAQ
Do cancelled Forbidden City tickets come back on sale?
Don’t count on it. The museum has said refunded tickets do not go back into the booking pool (to stop scalpers) and it compensates by overselling instead. Your real chance is the 20:00 release itself, which is rolled out in batches over the evening.
Can I buy Forbidden City tickets at the gate?
Officially no — the museum does not sell same-day tickets. The museum has also said it can offer same-day window help to inbound visitors who struggle to book or pay online, and travellers with foreign passports report buying at the window by the Meridian Gate. It is unreliable: treat it as a last resort, never on holidays.
Is there an email booking option for foreigners?
The museum’s English ticket page lists bookingticket@dpm.org.cn for international visitors: send each visitor’s full passport name, passport number and visit date at least one calendar day ahead, within the 7-day window. A reply is not guaranteed, so keep trying the website too.
Will a tour company still get me in when it’s sold out?
Sometimes. The museum keeps a separate quota for licensed travel agencies, and their tickets must be used on a guide-led tour. A genuine guided tour that includes entry can still have space — a “ticket only” resale cannot be trusted, because the museum has authorised no third-party ticket agents.
What is the best thing to do nearby if I can’t get in?
Climb Jingshan Park right behind the palace (about CNY 2, passport at the gate) for the view over the golden roofs, then walk the moat to the Corner Tower. Tiananmen Square and the National Museum of China each need their own free reservation.