What we check for every attraction
Each of our 81 guides answers the same questions: do you need to book ahead, where to book, when tickets are released, which days it opens, what it costs, opening hours, and whether you need your passport at the gate.
1. Official sources first
We start with the attraction’s own website or notices, city tourism bureaus (for example Visit Beijing) and government pages. When a fact comes from a booking channel instead — such as a Trip.com product page — we say which one and the date we saw it. Across all guides we cite 352 sources, listed at the bottom of each page.
2. Live booking screenshots
For 17 attractions we walked through the recommended booking flow ourselves and captured 81 screenshots on 5 Oct 2026 and 6 Oct 2026 (desktop, 1280×800). We stop before entering personal data or paying, so nothing is ever booked.
3. Traveler reports as evidence, not policy
Reports from forums such as Reddit tell us where foreigners actually get stuck — WeChat-only flows, payment failures, sell-outs. We link them under “What recent travelers report” on each guide, but we never treat them as official rules.
4. Dates on everything
Every guide shows a Last checked date in the header, next to the booking button and in the sources. Prices quoted from a booking site reflect what it showed on the date given in the text, or else on the page’s Last checked date. The whole dataset was last checked on 6 Oct 2026.
5. One recommended path
We recommend exactly one booking path per attraction: the simplest one for a foreign visitor with a passport. Our usual order of preference is the official English website, then Trip.com, then an official WeChat or Alipay mini-program, then the ticket office on site. Where no booking is needed, walking up is the simplest path; for Tibet, a licensed tour agency is required. Everything else goes under If it doesn’t work.
6. Honest about gaps
Anything we could not confirm against an official page is listed under Check before you go, and unconfirmed steps carry a Check marker. Rules change without notice, so always confirm on the booking channel.
Independence
We are an independent guide, not affiliated with any attraction or museum. We pick the one recommended path on the evidence above — the easiest reliable way for a foreign visitor to book — and commercial links never change that choice; see our affiliate disclosure. More about the project on the About page.