Can I use a foreign passport when a sight requires “real-name booking”?
Most big sites accept a passport through official channels. Some make you swap at a window; some only mention ID cards.
What it depends on
- IfThe official booking form lists 'passport'→ thenBook on your passport number and bring the original; the gate checks it against the booking.
- IfThe notice sends foreign visitors to a window, service desk or staffed lane→ thenAllow time at the entrance for the swap; weekends and holidays mean queues.
- IfOnly 'ID card' is mentioned and booking is a WeChat mini-program→ thenTry the form's document drop-down early; if there is no passport, look for an English route or phone the site.
- IfThe museum has dropped booking→ thenWalk up with the passport. Where the notice names a green channel for passports (Shenzhen Museum), use it.
What real-name means: the ticket is tied to one identity document, and the gate checks that document against the booking. The default document is the mainland ID card, which gates read by tapping; a passport has to be handled some other way. Booking itself is receding at many museums: Shenzhen Museum dropped it on 22 July 2024, and three Chongqing museums, including the Three Gorges Museum, on 1 October 2025. The ID check stays: Chongqing's notices say you enter on a valid identity document. Shenzhen Museum's notice explicitly lets foreign-passport holders in through the green channel.
Case one, the official channel lists the passport: pick passport as the document type, enter the number, bring the original. Examples with the museum's or site's own wording: the Palace Museum in Beijing (ticket.dpm.org.cn: non-mainland visitors book and enter on a passport), Mutianyu Great Wall, the Terracotta Army and Beilin Museum in Xi'an, the Shaanxi History Museum (passport is on its list, but booking runs only through its WeChat official account), Wuhou Shrine in Chengdu, and Chimelong in Guangzhou, whose FAQ lists the passport among valid entry documents.
Case two, the window: you book online, or not at all, then take the passport to a ticket window or service desk to collect a paper ticket, or go through a staffed lane instead of the ID gate. Beijing's National Natural History Museum tells foreign visitors to collect tickets at the window with their passport (it takes no same-day bookings on site). Prince Gong's Mansion swaps the booking for an entry pass at its service desk on the day. Du Fu Thatched Cottage in Chengdu sends anyone without a mainland ID card to the ticket window. Dujiangyan and Mount Qingcheng say it in one line: book on a passport and use the staffed lane, or show your document at the ticket window.
Case three, nothing said: the official text mentions only the resident ID card or 'valid identity document', and the booking is a WeChat mini-program. Examples: the China Science and Technology Museum in Beijing, and the Han Yangling Museum near Xi'an ('your own valid ID card and booking QR code'). Treat these as unknown, not as closed: the passport may or may not be in the form's drop-down, and the official page doesn't tell you.
When a mini-program only takes an ID card: look for the site's own English route first. Chengdu Museum has an English booking interface that uses email, and the Badaling Great Wall website has a button for foreign visitors that goes to Trip.com. Then check the official notice for a window or staffed lane, then phone the site. If there is still nothing official, plan it as a sight you may not get into that day. Shanghai's museums are covered in their own entry.
Useful apps
Related places
Where this answer comes up most often. Open a place for its details.
Sources
- Palace Museum — ticketing siteOfficial
non-mainland visitors book and check in with a passport or foreign permanent residence card
Open source ↗ - Mutianyu Great Wall — visitor informationOfficial
one ticket per document per day (ID card / permanent residence card / passport); passport holders enter on the original, no ticket swap
Open source ↗ - Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum — visitor guideOfficial
book with a second-generation ID card or passport
Open source ↗ - Shaanxi History Museum — visitor guideOfficial
passport on the list of valid documents; booking through its WeChat account
Open source ↗ - Xi'an Beilin Museum — ticketing siteOfficial
foreign visitors enter their passport details
Open source ↗ - Chengdu Wuhou Shrine Museum — ticketsOfficial
foreign visitors book with a passport or permanent residence card
Open source ↗ - Chimelong Guangzhou — FAQOfficial
passport listed among valid entry documents
Open source ↗ - China National Natural History Museum — visitor informationOfficial
foreign visitors collect tickets at the window with passport originals; no on-site booking
Open source ↗ - Prince Gong's Mansion Museum — ticketing noticeOfficial
passport accepted; swap at the service desk on the day
Open source ↗ - Chengdu Du Fu Thatched Cottage Museum — visitor noticeOfficial
without a mainland ID card original, collect a paper voucher at the ticket window
Open source ↗ - Dujiangyan / Mount Qingcheng — online booking pageOfficial
choose passport, use the staffed lane, or show documents at the ticket window
Open source ↗ - China Science and Technology MuseumOfficial
resident ID card or other valid ID; passport not named
Open source ↗ - Han Yangling Museum — noticeOfficial
enter on your own valid ID card and booking QR code; passport not named
Open source ↗ - Chengdu Museum — booking noticeOfficial
overseas visitors can book on the English interface with an email address
Open source ↗ - Badaling Great Wall — official websiteOfficial
'foreign visitors' ticket button links to Trip.com
Open source ↗ - Chongqing China Three Gorges Museum — booking droppedOfficial
no booking from 1 October 2025; enter on a valid identity document
Open source ↗ - Shenzhen Museum — visitor noticeOfficial
booking dropped from 22 July 2024; foreign-passport holders use the green channel
Open source ↗