The gate with the portrait — the 1417 'Gate of Heavenly Peace', outer gate of the imperial city, from whose rostrum the People's Republic was proclaimed on 1 October 1949. Most foreign visitors do not know the tower itself can be climbed: a ¥15 ticket puts you on the rostrum looking down the square and up the axis to the Meridian Gate. It takes its own real-name booking, separate from both the square and the Forbidden City and released a day ahead, with no bags allowed on top.
ClosedMondays except public holidays (platform listing)Secondhand source
ReservationRequired · Timed entry
IDPassport required; see details for entry handling.Secondhand sourceDetails ↓
LandmarkNorth side of Tiananmen Square, facing Chang'an Avenue
AddressTiananmen, Dongcheng — the gate between the square and the Forbidden CityVerified · 2026-09Source ↗Navigate ↗
EntranceTicket check and free bag storage on the north (Forbidden City) side of the gate, past the square checkpoint
Last verified 2026-09-15Source: platforms and press
How to book
Real-name booking on the '天安门城楼参观预约' website www.tiananmenchenglou.com, its WeChat official account, or the 京通 mini-programs; local listings report tickets for the next 7 days released daily at 17:00, no same-day or on-site sales. The official site returns HTTP 403 (GeoBL) to non-mainland IPs — from abroad, book on the WeChat official account or after you landSecondhand source
ID details
Passport required; see details for entry handling. Real-name booking only through the official channels, no third-party agents; the listings quoting the operator accept a Chinese ID card, a 'non-Chinese passport', Taiwan and HK/Macao permits — the official text itself sits behind a site blocked outside mainland China
Language
The municipal English portal explains the booking route in English: reserve through the Tian'anmen Rostrum website or its WeChat official account ('Tian'anmen Rostrum Reservation'), or the 'Jing Tong' mini-programs on WeChat and Alipay, one to seven days ahead — the booking platforms themselves are in Chinese. No audio guide or English guiding is published for the tower.