Do I need to book the Shanghai Museum in advance in 2026?
It depends on the branch. The Shanghai Museum on People's Square (人民广场馆) needs a ticket booked in advance right now. The Shanghai Museum East (东馆) in Pudong is walk-in for individuals with ID, except two interactive spaces.
The two branches also close on different days. People's Square is closed on Mondays and the East branch on Tuesdays (both except national holidays), so there is always one you can try.
Which Shanghai Museum should you visit: People's Square or East?
People's Square is the downtown building. Since 9 July 2026 it has been given over to a single exhibition, On Top of the World Tree: Ancient Civilizations of the Americas (世界树之巅：美洲古代文明大展), which runs to 14 November 2027 across the galleries on floors 1 to 3. The museum's visit page says this branch hosts no other exhibitions during that time. It also says that visitors who want the permanent displays and other special exhibitions should go to the East branch at 1952 Century Avenue, Pudong New Area.
So the choice is simple:
- The Americas exhibition: People's Square, with a booked ticket.
- Permanent displays and other special exhibitions: the East branch. Individuals need no entry reservation, but The Curio-City and the Digital Gallery require advance reservations, and ticketed special exhibitions require tickets.
One catch at the East branch: three painting and calligraphy galleries are closed for installation work (details below). If you are also doing the National Museum in Beijing, our National Museum of China tickets guide covers that one.
How to book Shanghai Museum tickets for People's Square as a foreigner
The visit page says individual visitors book in advance through the museum's official WeChat Mini Program, and that overseas visitors can book through trip.com. The Americas exhibition ticket guide (8 May 2026, in Chinese) lists the sales channels as the Mini Program, the Ctrip app and an on-site ticket office at the People's Square branch. It repeats that overseas visitors can buy through Trip.com. If you don't read Chinese, trip.com is the easier path for a foreign visitor.
- Pick your date. Full-price tickets for a whole month open at 12:00 noon on the 1st of the previous month. The guide's example: on 1 July at 12:00, tickets for 1 to 31 August open. By the same pattern, December tickets open on 1 November. The guide says tickets sell out when the venue's capacity is reached.
- Pick a session. The guide says you choose both the date and the session. Outside national holidays, the visit page lists a day session (09:00-17:00, last entry 15:00) and a day and evening session (09:00-21:00, last entry 19:00).
- Enter the visitor's real name. It is one person per ticket, and each valid ID can book once per day.
- On the day, go to the South Gate on Wusheng Road, use the individual visitor passage and show your original valid ID. The guide says entry is by checking your own valid ID.
The visit page says to follow the museum's official WeChat channel for evening sessions, special events and changes to opening hours. The People's Square visit page doesn't say which days have evening sessions.
Americas exhibition ticket prices
The museum's ticket guide (8 May 2026) has a price table. All prices are in yuan.
| Ticket | Price | When it can be used |
|---|---|---|
| Early-bird ticket (早鸟票) | ¥120 | Any time during the exhibition, but you must exchange it under a real name for a booked visit slot. The sale ran from 8 to 31 May 2026 and has ended. |
| Full-price ticket (全价票) | ¥148 | During the exhibition |
| Designated-day ticket (指定日票) | ¥135 | Exhibition opening days other than 9 July to 31 August 2026, 1 January to 28 February 2027, 1 July to 31 August 2027, weekends and national holidays |
| Concession ticket (优惠票) | ¥74 | During the exhibition |
| Parent-child ticket A (亲子票A) | ¥200 | One adult and one child; during the exhibition |
| Parent-child ticket B (亲子票B) | ¥320 | Two adults and one child; during the exhibition |
The early-bird sale was limited to 200,000 tickets and is no longer open. Today you are buying the full-price, designated-day, concession or parent-child tickets, which the guide says are sold on a first-come basis until they run out.
Who gets which ticket, as the guide words it:
- Concession ticket: people aged 60 and over; minors aged over 6 and up to 18; full-time students up to undergraduate level; serving military personnel and several other groups (bereaved families of martyrs or military personnel, families of serving military personnel, veterans, police, firefighters), with valid ID.
- Parent-child ticket: children aged 6 up to (not including) 14.
- Free: one adult may bring two children aged 6 and under. Disabled visitors with valid ID are free. They show original valid ID at the gate on the day.
The guide doesn't say whether a foreign passport or a foreign student card counts as the valid ID for a concession ticket.
What the booking pages leave open
- Refunds. The guide says a refund service will be offered to visitors who cannot come, with the rules announced separately. It gives no refund rules yet.
- Foreign visitors on trip.com. The museum's pages don't say what a foreign visitor types in at booking or how registration works there.
- The on-site ticket office. The guide says there is one at People's Square. It doesn't say how a foreign visitor buys there.
Can I use my passport to enter the Shanghai Museum?
The museum asks for "original valid identity documents" (有效身份证件原件) at People's Square and at the East branch. None of these entry rules says "passport", and none defines "valid ID" for foreign visitors. A passport is the ID most foreign visitors carry, but the museum doesn't spell out that it is accepted, so we can't promise it.
The East branch page says you scan your ID at the gate. It doesn't say whether that gate reads a passport. If you want an answer before you travel, the museum's enquiry line is 021-60226699. The East page gives service hours of 10:00-18:00.
Shanghai Museum East: how to get in without a reservation
The East branch's English page says reservation for individual visitors is not required. Show your original valid ID, pass security at the B1 East Gate (near Dingxiang Road) and scan the ID to go in. Both language versions say these guidelines take effect on 15 September 2024.
Two spaces still need a reservation: The Curio-City (古代文明探索宫) and the Digital Gallery (数字馆). Book them through "Special Reservation" on the East branch reservation page. Ticketed special exhibitions are bought online or at the Information Desk. The museum may also limit numbers in an individual gallery for a while when it gets too busy.
A note on wording. The museum's 17 April 2026 notice still called East's walk-in entry a trial, and the Chinese East page says the museum may adjust how people enter. The East branch visit page still shows 15 September 2024 as the date the guidelines take effect, and the museum's East branch announcements of 12 and 22 September 2026 (gallery closures and the Silla exhibition) don't change this entry rule.
East branch galleries that are closed or changing
- Since Monday 28 September 2026: the Chinese Calligraphy Gallery, Chinese Painting Gallery and Shanghai-School Painting and Calligraphy Gallery (中国历代书法馆、中国历代绘画馆、海上书画馆) are closed for installation work.
- From Thursday 8 October 2026: the special display of Zhuang Wanli family donations in the special-format painting and calligraphy gallery closes.
- From Monday 16 November 2026: the Zhao Puchu Art Gallery closes.
The 12 September 2026 notice says reopening dates will be announced later, so watch the museum's announcements before planning around those rooms. A separate Silla exhibition, Under the Golden Crown (金冠之下：新罗文物精华展), is open at the East branch from 23 September 2026 to 18 January 2027 and is described as free.
How to get to the Shanghai Museum by metro
| Branch | Metro line and station | Exit |
|---|---|---|
| People's Square | Line 1, 2 or 8 to People's Square station | Exit 1 |
| People's Square | Line 14 to Dashijie station | Exit 4 |
| East | Line 2 to Shanghai Science and Technology Museum station | Exit 8 |
| East | Line 4 to Xiangcheng Road station | Exit 2 |
| East | Line 6 to Pudian Road station | Exit 1 |
These are the exits on each branch's official page. The People's Square page says that branch sits close to Nanjing Road and Huaihai Road. If you are planning a longer stay, our Shanghai travel guide has the rest of the city.
What changed in 2025 and 2026 (old notices you may still find)
Several older notices are still online and can mislead you.
- 25 August 2025 walk-in notice. It described an older walk-in rule. The current People's Square guidelines, effective 30 June 2026, give last entry at 15:00 for the day session, and the 8 May 2026 Americas exhibition ticket guide requires real-name tickets except for visitors who qualify for free admission.
- May Day 2026 kiosk. The 17 April 2026 notice said overseas visitors could register with original valid ID at an on-site reservation service kiosk at the People's Square South Gate over the 1 to 5 May holiday. The current visit page doesn't mention a kiosk, so don't count on one.
- People's Square closure. The same notice said the branch would close temporarily from 6 May 2026 and reopen in July for the Americas exhibition. The exhibition opened on 9 July 2026.
The Chinese East branch page also warns that the museum has not authorised any third-party platform to take visit reservations and provide on-site guiding. It says some groups bought up slots and resold them. For the Americas exhibition, the ticket guide lists the museum's official WeChat Mini Program, the Ctrip app and an on-site ticket office at People's Square, and says overseas visitors can buy through Trip.com.
Groups of 20 or more
Both branches ask groups of 20 or more to phone at least 7 days ahead, not counting the visit day. Daily group quotas apply, and walk-in groups are not admitted. The People's Square group line is 021-63724550. The East branch group line is 021-20729998, and both ask you to call during opening hours.
If you want help with a Shanghai day, we can help you plan it around these rules and tell you how to book. We don't book museum tickets.
