Dazu Rock Carvings tickets in 2026: prices, passport purchase and how to get there

How much are Dazu Rock Carvings tickets in 2026?

Baodingshan (宝顶山) costs ¥115 and Beishan (北山) ¥70 in peak season. The combined ticket for both is ¥140. These are the prices posted by the Dazu Rock Carvings Research Institute (大足石刻研究院), which runs the sites. Prices are in yuan per person. Peak season is 1 March to 30 November; low season is 1 December to 28 or 29 February. A trip in October pays the peak price.

Two extras are priced separately. The digital film (8K dome and 4K wide screen) is ¥80; children 6 and under who don't take a seat go free. The Baodingshan scenic transport (tourist bus and sightseeing cart) is ¥22 return or ¥12 one way, free for children 6 and under. Half-price and free tickets do not cover the film or the scenic transport.

Package tickets (A to D)

The price table has a second tab with four package tickets. Each includes the Baodingshan scenic transport, return. Packages A and C add the digital film. Prices are in yuan per person; the last figure in each group is what the page's free-admission column shows.

The page does not say a package is required or that it is the only way to buy. If you want to compare, the arithmetic is yours to do. In peak season, Baodingshan (¥115) plus the return transport (¥22) is ¥137 bought separately, against ¥130 for package B. Baodingshan and Beishan (¥140) plus the return transport is ¥162, against ¥150 for package D. The same notes sit under the package table: half-price and free tickets do not cover the digital film or the scenic transport.

The peak prices for single tickets match Chongqing's 2018 price-cut notice, which took Baodingshan from 135 to 115, Beishan from 90 to 70 and the combined ticket from 170 to 140. If a blog still says ¥135 for Baodingshan admission alone or ¥170 for Baodingshan and Beishan admission alone, it is quoting the pre-2018 prices. The ¥30 price for the three newer sites comes from a notice dated 5 June 2024. The scenic transport fares match a notice dated 22 June 2022, which says a transport ticket is valid on the day of purchase and the next day, with unlimited rides in the set section on the shuttle bus and battery cart.

Can foreigners buy Dazu Rock Carvings tickets with a passport?

Yes, in person. The institute's booking instructions say that holders of a Home Return permit, a Taiwan compatriot permit or a passport buy at the manual ticket counter (人工售票处) in the Visitor Center (大足石刻游客中心). The online route (the official 大足石刻 WeChat account) is written for people with a Chinese resident ID card, and so are the self-service machines.

1. Go to the Visitor Center (大足石刻游客中心). Baodingshan tickets must be bought and checked there.
2. Buy at the manual ticket counter with your passport.
3. At the Visitor Center ticket check, show your ticket and ID. Your face data is recorded and matched to the ID before you go in.

The visitor notes ask you to bring your ID in original. They also ask for no pets (guide dogs excepted), no smoking, no touching the carvings and no flammable or explosive items.

Where the pages stop: the booking instructions name only the Visitor Center for offline purchase. The guide page lists ticket-sale hours at Beishan and the three smaller sites too, but it does not say whether passport holders can buy at those windows. If your plan starts at Beishan, ask on the Beishan line (023-43721274) first.

Do you need to book Dazu Rock Carvings tickets in advance?

The institute's guide, booking instructions and discount policy don't say that booking ahead is required, and none of them gives a daily visitor cap. The discount policy does say staff may monitor and control visitor flow while the sites are open, and asks visitors to follow staff instructions at peak times or in an emergency.

The practical limit is the clock. Baodingshan stays open until 18:00, but the Visitor Center stops selling at 16:00, so counter buyers should arrive before then.

Refunds

• Online orders can be refunded only before the ticket is checked or the paper ticket is collected. Dates can't be changed.
• A ticket from a self-service machine is refunded at the same machine, before the ticket check.
• A ticket from the manual counter is refunded at the counter, before the ticket check.
• Once a combined ticket has been checked, there is no partial refund, unless a site closes early or for repairs.

Dazu Rock Carvings opening hours and the Beishan night tour

Beishan is the only site with a night tour. The digital film runs seven screenings a day, at 9:30, 10:20, 11:10, 12:00, 13:30, 14:20 and 15:10.

Chongqing to Dazu Rock Carvings by train

Take a high-speed (G) train to Dazu South (大足南; spelled Dazunan on the 12306 English site). In a 12306 search made on 8 October 2026 for travel on 15 October 2026, trains to Dazu South were listed from several Chongqing stations: Chongqing West (重庆西), Chongqing North (重庆北), Shapingba (沙坪坝) and Jiangbei Airport station (江北机场). Our Chongqing railway stations guide explains which is which.

The times and prices below are a sample from a 12306 search made on 8 October 2026 for travel on Thursday 15 October 2026. Every second-class price in this sample carried a discount label (7% to 20% off), shown after the price, so each price is already discounted and the full fare is higher. Fares change with the train and the date, so search your own date; timetables change too.

• G8678: Chongqing West 07:31, Dazu South 08:02, second class ¥37 (14% off).
• G8702: Chongqing North 08:20, Dazu South 08:57, second class ¥48 (9% off).
• G8664: Jiangbei Airport station 17:58 (second class ¥54, 11% off) or Chongqing North 18:16 (¥48, 9% off), arriving Dazu South 18:52.

Three more listings (G5342 from Chongqing West, G8506 and G8630 from Shapingba) showed "Ticketing service is temporarily closed due to train timetable adjustment". In that search, only two morning trains from Chongqing had tickets, so a day trip depended on G8678 or G8702.

Back to Chongqing on the same date:

If you change plans, see our 12306 refund and change fees guide. For the city itself, start with the Chongqing travel guide.

From Dazu South station to Baodingshan and Beishan

The institute lists routes from Dazu South by bus, then another bus or a taxi. The institute's route list gives bus numbers and stop names but no journey times and no bus fares, so we can't tell you either.

• Baodingshan (via the Visitor Center): bus 204 (get off at 电信局) or bus 206 (get off at 宏声广场). Then take bus 205 (board at 电信局), the "2015石刻专线" rock-carvings bus (board at 宏声文化广场), or a taxi, to the Visitor Center.
• Beishan: bus 204 (get off at 大足中学) or bus 206 (get off at 宏声广场), then a taxi.
• Nanshan and Shizhuanshan: bus 204 (大足中学) or 206 (宏声广场), then a taxi or ride-hailing car.
• Shimenshan: bus 204 to the Dazu bus station (大足汽车站), then bus 210 or 211.

From Chongqing Jiangbei Airport, the guide page routes you by the T2/T3 long-distance bus station to the Dazu bus station, then bus 205 or a taxi to the Visitor Center. Coach tickets can be checked and bought on the Yukexing Chongqing highway coach ticketing network (愉客行).

The Baodingshan scenic transport (¥22 return, ¥12 one way) runs between the Visitor Center and the Baodingshan site, according to the 2022 fare notice. The institute's guide page and the 2022 fare notice don't say whether it is compulsory. The institute's guide page doesn't give the distance or travel time from the Visitor Center to Beishan.

Shizhuanshan, Shimenshan and Nanshan: are they worth adding?

These three opened to visitors together on 20 July 2024, joining Baodingshan and Beishan, which were already open. All five are on the World Heritage list; the three newer ones were added in 1999, together with the first two. Each costs ¥30. The institute's discount policy says the five sites are far apart and you arrange your own transport between them.

• Nanshan (南山): about 2 km south of Dazu town. Southern Song Daoist figures, carved in the Shaoxing years (1131 to 1162).
• Shizhuanshan (石篆山): in Sanqu town. The earliest Dazu carvings that unite the Three Teachings, including a Confucius and ten disciples niche and a Lu Ban (鲁班) figure.
• Shimenshan (石门山): in Shima town. Thirteen niches, Buddhist and Daoist.

Our view: if you only have one day, plan around Baodingshan and Beishan first. Add one of the three only if its subject interests you and you are happy to pay for another taxi or bus transfer. All three close at 17:30, half an hour before Baodingshan; tickets stop selling at 16:00 and the last check is 16:30.

Free and half-price Dazu tickets: children, seniors, students

• Free: under 18, with your own valid original ID (other valid ID is also accepted for minors); aged 65 and over, with your own valid original ID. Some other groups with Chinese certificates also go free.
• Half price: aged 60 to 64, with your own valid original ID; full-time students at Chinese schools aged 18 or over, studying at undergraduate level or below, with original ID and a student card.
• No student discount: postgraduate, adult-education, in-service and online students. A student card without a registration stamp is not valid.
• Minors must visit with a guardian.

The age rules say "本人有效身份证原件", your own valid ID in original. The policy's notes list the passport among the valid documents for entry, but they don't say in so many words whether a foreign passport qualifies for the age discounts. The student rule names full-time students at Chinese schools and doesn't mention foreign student cards. Ask at the manual ticket counter before you assume a discount. Half-price and free tickets don't cover the digital film or the scenic transport.

We can help you plan the day, and arrange hotels, train tickets, a local guide or a private car around it. We don't book sight tickets.