Do foreigners need to book Tiananmen Square tickets, and is it free?
Yes, you need to book, and it costs nothing. The Tiananmen Area Management Committee said in its notice of 24 September 2026 that the square is free to visit and booking is under your real name. Individuals and tour groups must both book 1-7 days ahead through the Tiananmen Square Visit Reservation Service Platform (天安门广场预约参观服务平台). You book with your passport.
How far ahead can you book Tiananmen Square? Can you book on the day?
The 2026 window is 1-7 days ahead. Older Committee notices show 10 days (the 2021 reservation rules) or 9 days (a holiday notice of 27 September 2023); both are out of date.
Booking on the day is not part of the 2026 rule, because the window starts one day ahead; the visitor notice of 10 April 2023 also said at least one day ahead.
How to book Tiananmen Square with a foreign passport
The Committee's answer of 29 May 2025 says the web portal does not support non-Chinese phone numbers. It points to the square's WeChat mini-program and its ‘Personal Reservation’ (个人预约) section. If you don't have WeChat, it says someone else can book for you.
- Open the mini-program in WeChat and choose Personal Reservation.
- Pick your date, 1-7 days ahead, and a slot from the table below. The 2026 notice tells visitors to enter by their booked security checkpoint (安检口), but does not say how it is chosen.
- Enter each person's name and passport number (2025 answer), plus a mobile number (2021 rules).
One booking covers up to 7 people: 4 adults and 3 children aged 6 or under, or under 1.2 meters tall (2025 answer). The Chinese 2021 rules say 1.2 m or under and let you list such children by number only.
Official platform only
The 2021 rules say no other organisation or individual may set up a Tiananmen Square reservation platform or run that business.
Which ID and phone number?
The 2021 rules say foreign visitors book with a passport (入境护照) or a foreigner's residence permit (外国人居留证). The 2025 answer gives its phone-number limit for the web portal only and does not say whether the mini-program accepts a foreign number or sends a verification code. The 2021 rules also said bookings by phone, letter, fax or email were not supported.
Is there an English site or app?
The 2021 rules said an English version of the booking system would be opened. The 2026 notice, the 2025 answer and the Beijing government's page on the square do not say whether the mini-program has one. On 2 October 2026 the web portal's home page was in Chinese, with no language switch, and booking needed a login.
The Beijing government's English page on the square (undated; March 2026 by its web address) lists the mini-program, Jingtong (京通) on WeChat, Alipay and Baidu, the Beijing Daily (北京日报) and Beijing Time (北京时间) apps, and a PC web system, without saying which are in English. A Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism announcement of 3 December 2025 says the attraction-ticketing platform on the Jingtong WeChat mini-program has an English version. Choose “Visit Beijing”, then “Purchase Tickets”, and it sends you to each attraction's official ticketing page. The announcement does not name the square.
Time slots in the 2021 rules
| Slot | Runs |
|---|---|
| Flag-raising (升旗) | From the square's opening, one hour before the ceremony, to the ceremony's end |
| Morning (上午) | From the end of the ceremony to 12:00 |
| Afternoon (下午) | From 12:00 to the evening closing |
| Flag-lowering (降旗) | From one hour before the lowering to the evening closing |
Booked the Forbidden City or the National Museum? Do you still need the square?
Older pages say a booking at a neighbouring site can replace a square booking, but each names different sites.
| Official page | Date | What it says |
|---|---|---|
| Committee's reservation rules | 19 Nov 2021 | A booking at the Palace Museum, National Museum of China, Chairman Mao Memorial Hall, Zhongshan Park or Working People's Cultural Palace lets you into the square by showing a valid reservation record. |
| Committee's holiday notice | 27 Sep 2023 | The same for the morning and afternoon; the list adds the Tiananmen Gate Tower. |
| Committee's answer, English site | 29 May 2025 | A booking at the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall, Great Hall of the People, National Museum of China or another designated public site works in the morning and afternoon on the day of that visit, with the reservation record shown at entry. The Palace Museum is not named. |
| Committee's notice | 24 Sep 2026 | Does not mention the shortcut. |
| Palace Museum booking notice | Undated | Covers two cases: the palace alone, or the square and the palace both booked. It does not say a palace booking gets you into the square. |
Our advice
We'd book the square itself. It is free, and the 2026 notice describes no other route. A square booking never replaces the booking for the palace or the other sites (2021 rules). For the palace, see our Forbidden City booking guide.
If you book both, the Palace Museum's booking notice says to time the square to your palace slot and queue at the security checkpoints around the square. The walk from Tiananmen Gate to the Meridian Gate (午门) is one-way, south to north. The palace's visit page says it is open Tuesday to Sunday 08:00-16:00 and closed all day Monday, subject to notices on site.
If nothing else works, the 2025 answer says to book the National Museum of China first: its international website takes an email address and a passport number, up to five people per order.
Tiananmen Square security check: what you can't bring
Everyone also goes through a security check. Article 10 of Beijing's rules on the Tiananmen area (Order No. 203 of 2008, shown as in force) says people entering must not carry:
- explosive, toxic or radioactive dangerous substances;
- firearms, ammunition, daggers and other controlled instruments;
- drugs, obscene and other banned articles;
- other items that harm public order and safety.
The police may inspect people and vehicles entering. The April 2023 notice names the same kinds of items and adds “low, slow and small” aircraft (drones) and lighters. For National Day, the 24 September 2026 notice asks visitors to bring no bag or as few as possible. Neither notice describes the screening itself or mentions bag storage near the square.
On the day: entry, ID and cancelling
Enter on your booked date, in your slot and through your checkpoint; visitors who come on a different date are turned back (April 2023 notice). Carry the ID you booked with (September 2023 holiday notice). At the security checkpoints a QR-code sign is posted (2021 rules): scan it and show the result to staff, or, if you booked on a computer or your phone can't be used, staff verify on a device. One verification covers everyone on the booking.
These cancelling rules are from 2021, still on the Committee's website; the 2026 notice does not repeat them. To cancel, open your booking record (预约记录) on the platform's home page and press cancel (取消预约). Each booking can be cancelled at most 3 times a day; the 2021 rules say you can't book again that day if you cancel more than 3 times. A booking you neither verify nor cancel counts as a no-show, unless another slot you booked that day was verified. Three or more no-shows within 1 month mean no booking for 6 months.
How to watch the flag-raising ceremony at Tiananmen Square
The flag-raising is a separate booking: pick its slot (升旗) on the same platform, as the April 2023 notice says. A booking at another site does not cover it (September 2023 holiday notice). A September 2024 report, about that year's National Day holiday, said tourists without reservations would not be able to attend. Neither the 2021 rules nor the 2026 notice gives a daily ceremony time.
National Day 2026
For the 1-7 October 2026 flag-raising ceremonies only, the Committee's notice of 24 September 2026 gives these opening times: the evening before for the 1-5 October ceremonies, at 21:00 on 30 September and 23:30 on 1-4 October, and at 00:30 on 6 and 7 October.
Tiananmen Gate Tower, closures and contact
This booking is for the square only. On 2 October 2026 the web portal's home page said to book the Tiananmen Gate Tower (天安门城楼, the Rostrum) through the Tower's own official account.
The square can be restricted or closed for state or foreign-affairs events (2021 rules).
The Committee's notice of 22 December 2025 gives its number from 30 December 2025 as 010-65016000, open 08:00-17:00. Its old numbers, including the square-reservation line, were due to be switched off that day. The notice does not say whether the new line has English service.
