Where to buy Mutianyu Great Wall tickets as a foreigner
Use the scenic area's own English site, en.mutianyugreatwall.com, menu Reservation Center, then Tickets. Book with your passport, one ticket per passport per day, and bring that same passport to the gate. The adult ticket is CNY 45. The shuttle bus and cable car are sold separately.
The ticket page is a booking widget built into the English site. It runs in seven languages: English, French, Japanese, Russian, Arabic, Spanish and Korean. Start from the English site's address, not from a search ad or a message link, and check the web address in your browser bar before you type in your passport details.
Can you book with a passport, and does the site take a foreign card?
Yes to the passport. The scenic area runs real-name ticketing. You give your real name, ID number and mobile number, and the notice lists the passport as one of the accepted IDs, next to the Chinese ID card and the foreigner's permanent residence ID. It does not say whether a mobile number from outside China is accepted.
The scenic area's Notice to Visitors and Refund Guide do not answer the foreign-card question. The notice and the refund guide do not say which payment methods the booking widget takes. Do not assume either way.
Mutianyu Great Wall ticket price in 2026: 40 or 45 yuan?
It is CNY 45 for an adult. The official booking page lists CNY 45, and the Beijing government's English page, dated 2024-07-17, lists CNY 45 as well. No official page we have says 40. The discounted ticket is CNY 25 on both.
Here is what the official booking widget listed on 2 October 2026:
| Ticket | Adult | Student |
|---|---|---|
| Great Wall ticket only | CNY 45 | CNY 25 |
| Ticket + shuttle bus round trip | CNY 60 | CNY 40 |
| Ticket + shuttle bus + cable car round trip | CNY 200 | CNY 180 |
| Shuttle bus alone | CNY 15 | - |
| Cable car round trip | CNY 140 | - |
| Cable car one way | CNY 100 | - |
| Great Wall Spiritual Exhibition Hall (includes guide narration) | CNY 30 | - |
The widget labels the ticket items as “Postcard Ticket”. The scenic area's notice says a postcard ticket can be swapped for a commemorative postcard at the ticket service center or a self-service booth, and that a regular electronic ticket does not include one.
Toboggan, slide and chairlift tickets
The booking widget lists no toboggan, slide or chairlift ticket, so there is no price to give. The notice only says that the ropeway and slide are run by a different company from the cable car, and that their tickets are not interchangeable. It does not say where the ropeway or slide tickets are sold or what they cost.
Shuttle bus and cable car rules
- The Great Wall ticket does not include the shuttle bus, cable car, ropeway or slide.
- The shuttle bus station is about 3 km from the ticket gate. Buy a shuttle ticket separately if you want to ride it.
- Children 1.2 m and under ride the shuttle bus and cable car free. Above 1.2 m, a full-price ticket is needed. There are no child, senior or disability discounts for these two.
- If you buy a cable car round trip, you must come back the same way.
- Cable car ticket holders can only enter through the North Ticket Gate. Ropeway or slide ticket holders can only enter through the Slide Ticket Gate.
Who gets the discounted ticket, and what is free
The English notice gives the discounted ticket to foreign minors aged over 6 and up to 18. The Chinese notice adds that the child must be over 1.2 m tall. The booking widget describes its student ticket as for minors under 18, or for students enrolled in undergraduate programs or below, aged 18 to 25, who show a passport and a valid student ID.
The pages differ on adult students. The English notice and the Beijing government page say undergraduates “below the age of 18”, while the Chinese notice names Chinese-national undergraduates aged over 18 up to 25. The widget's wording is the broadest of the three. Read the conditions in the widget before you pick the student ticket.
Several other groups are written for specific cards or nationalities. Free entry for under-18s is written for Chinese citizens, including Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. The free senior pass names the Beijing Tong elderly and disabled card. The senior discount is for visitors aged 60 and over “from outside the city”. The pages do not say whether any of these apply to a foreign tourist with only a passport, and they do not say whether foreign children aged 6 and under are free.
How many days ahead can you book?
Two official pages give two numbers. The English notice, dated 2023-07-18, says tickets can be reserved 15 days in advance, and says it twice. The Chinese notice page, which shows no date, says 30 days, also twice. We would not treat either number as settled.
The booking calendar is what decides. Read on 2 October 2026, it offered every date from 2 October to 31 October, which is 30 dates, and showed the number of tickets left for each day. That fits the Chinese page.
Can you just buy Mutianyu Great Wall tickets at the gate?
Do not plan on it. The scenic area's own notice says real-name reservation is required. The Beijing government page, dated 2024-07-17, says “No reservation required, tickets can be purchased on-site.” Those two statements conflict. The notice only mentions the ticket service center for free-ticket visitors and for people who need an entry voucher, not for ordinary walk-up sales.
The simple choice is to book ahead on the official English site and keep your confirmation.
Mutianyu Great Wall opening hours and last entry
The scenic area's own pages give these hours, and the cable car runs on the same ones:
- 16 March to 15 November: Monday to Friday 07:30-18:00, Saturday and Sunday 07:30-18:30.
- 16 November to 15 March: 08:00-17:30.
- Cut-offs: ticket sales stop 1 hour before closing, and ticket inspection stops half an hour before closing. On a peak-season weekday, that is 17:00 for sales and 17:30 for entry.
The Beijing government page lists the peak season as 07:30 to 18:00 with no weekend change. That does not match the scenic area's pages, so use the scenic area's hours.
By day, watchtowers 1 to 20 are open. At night, watchtowers 10 to 15 are open.
What to show at the gate
Bring the original passport you booked with. The English notice says visitors who ordered with a foreign passport do not need to exchange the ticket and can enter by showing the original reservation document at the designated ticket gate. It also says the ticket must be presented with the matching ID. The booking page says to show your passport or the SMS QR code.
If you cannot show the ID, the Chinese notice says you can show the e-QR code you received when booking, or get an entry certificate at the ticket service center. If the person and the ID do not match, you must show the real document or buy another ticket.
Mutianyu Great Wall ticket refund and change
For a ticket that is booked but not yet checked in, you can ask for a refund or a change on the ticketing platform before 24:00 on the booked visit day. Later requests cannot be processed, and you will not be let in. Approved refunds go back to your account within 7 working days.
- Go to en.mutianyugreatwall.com and click “Log in”.
- Enter the email address you used to buy, then click “Get a verification code”. The code comes by email from service@mutianyugreatwall.com.
- Agree to the privacy policy, log in, open your booking, and click “Refund”.
If the money has not arrived in time, call 400-632-9662. Ticket inquiries go to 61626894 or 61626505 (change to 869). The scenic area's phone is 8610-61626022, staffed 08:30-17:00 Monday to Friday and 08:30-17:30 on weekends. The Chinese site lists a ticket hotline at 010-61626928.
The ticket system can also pause. The scenic area announced on 2026-08-24 that ticket sales and refunds would stop from 21:30 on 25 August to 00:30 on 26 August 2026. That window has passed.
Getting to Mutianyu
The scenic area's transport page, dated 2024-03-22, lists three ways. Driving: take Exit 13 of the Jingcheng Expressway (Beitai Lu). Public bus: Bus 916 from Dongzhimen to Huairou Beidajie Station, then H7, H23, H24, H35 or H36. Tourist line: CNY 80 round trip from Qianmen (07:00-11:00), Dongzhimen Exit H (09:10) or Shaoyaoju Exit E (09:30), returning 13:00-16:00 from Parking Lot P4. Tickets for that line are sold on the bus. If you would rather have a private car or a local guide to Mutianyu, send your dates for a quote. For the rest of your trip, see our Beijing travel guide.
Same trip, other Beijing tickets
The Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square have their own booking rules. See how to book Forbidden City tickets as a foreigner and how to make a Tiananmen Square reservation.
