How Should Taiwan Travellers Do Beijing? A 5-Day Itinerary, Bookings and the Truth About Free Admission

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How Should Taiwan Travellers Do Beijing? A 5-Day Itinerary, Bookings and the Truth About Free Admission

Beijing is around three hours' direct flight from Taiwan, and five days is enough for the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, the Summer Palace and the Temple of Heaven. But if you are coming for the first-timer admission waiver, this guide has to open with a plain statement: the waiver helps very little in Beijing.

At LyrikTrip we plan mainland itineraries, and we scanned the published catalogue of 1,281 attractions line by line. Beijing's ten listed sites are all parks and imperial gardens, saving under CNY 100 in total — and the two places you actually came for, the Forbidden City and the Great Wall, are not on the list.

Key takeaways

- ⚠️ All ten of Beijing's listed attractions are parks. The two 5A sites are the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace, at CNY 15 and CNY 30 respectively. - The Forbidden City, Badaling and Mutianyu are all absent from the waiver list — and they are the three most expensive items in a Beijing itinerary. - What genuinely needs advance work is the Forbidden City booking: tickets are released seven days ahead at 20:00, sell out in peak season, and the museum closes on Mondays. - Most other sites can simply be bought on the day — the Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, Old Summer Palace, Prince Gong's Mansion and Yonghe Temple need no booking. - Since 2026 the Beijing metro accepts contactless foreign cards (Visa, Mastercard, JCB, UnionPay, American Express), so you can ride from the moment you land.

What do Taiwan travellers need for Beijing?

The Taiwan Compatriot Permit, and no separate visa. Taipei to Beijing is about three hours direct, from both Taoyuan and Songshan.

If you have not applied yet, or are unsure whether you count as a first-timer, start with our Taiwan Compatriot Permit guide. This page is about Beijing itself.

Which Beijing attractions are free? First, a plain answer

Beijing has ten attractions in the published catalogue, and all of them are parks or imperial gardens. That is not an oversight on our part; it is the result of scanning all 1,281 entries.

The Forbidden City and the Great Wall are not on the list

The catalogue covers A-rated scenic areas, and the Forbidden City and the Great Wall sit under different management structures from the municipal parks. The practical consequence is direct: the two largest, most planning-intensive costs in a Beijing trip are still yours to pay.

The Forbidden City at CNY 60 plus Mutianyu at CNY 45 and a CNY 120 one-way cable car already exceed everything the waiver could save you.

The ten listed sites and what they normally cost

Covering both 5A sites and three or four parks saves roughly CNY 60 to 100.

For comparison: the Potala Palace alone saves CNY 200 in Tibet, with no cable car eating into it, and a day on Gulangyu in Xiamen saves about CNY 135 plus free ferries. The gap is stark.

The honest conclusion: go to Beijing, but not for the waiver. Save the year's allowance for Zhejiang, Shaanxi or Tibet, where the return is far higher.

Prices above were checked in August 2026; each site's posted rates govern.

So what is the waiver good for in Beijing? A Forbidden City loop

The real benefit is not the money — it's flexibility. Three of the ten listed sites — Jingshan, Beihai and Zhongshan Park — sit immediately around the Forbidden City, and the Temple of Heaven anchors the southern end of the central axis. That makes a complete day:

``` Morning Temple of Heaven (free, 5A) Midday Qianmen Street, Dashilan Afternoon Zhongshan Park → Jingshan Park (looking down on the Forbidden City) → Beihai Park Evening Shichahai, Yandai Xiejie ```

These sites can be bought on the day, with no booking pressure. The Forbidden City, by contrast, requires a scramble seven days ahead at 20:00 — so placing the free sites on the day before or after gives the whole itinerary far more give.

What needs booking, and what doesn't?

Only three places genuinely require advance booking: the Forbidden City, the National Museum and Tiananmen Square. Many guides blur this into "book all the popular sites", but travellers report that most have reopened same-day ticketing.

Same-day purchase is fine at the Summer Palace, Old Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, Prince Gong's Mansion and Yonghe Temple.

On-site you can either buy a paper ticket at the booth or purchase through a mini-program and scan a QR code, which skips the queue.

Booking the Forbidden City in practice

- Channels: the Palace Museum's traditional-Chinese website, or the "Palace Museum" WeChat mini-program - Timing: tickets for the seventh day ahead are released daily at 20:00 - No mainland phone number needed — a Taiwanese number and your permit are enough - Register an account first and fill in visitor details in your profile; the system then auto-fills when booking multiple tickets - Successful payment triggers an email; bring your permit on the day

One traveller's experience: booking a weekday morning slot at exactly 20:00 was less brutal than the reputation suggests. Avoiding public holidays is what matters.

A five-day Beijing itinerary

One day for the Forbidden City, one for the Great Wall, one for the imperial gardens, the rest for the city and the hutongs. The table marks which stops are free and which need booking.

Two practical notes:

- Book the Forbidden City first. Fix its date the day you finalise the itinerary, or you won't get in. - The Great Wall day is the physically demanding one. Take it easy the night before; bring water, snacks and a light jacket. At Mutianyu, take the cable car up.

Getting around: the metro takes your Taiwanese credit card

Since 2026, the Beijing metro accepts contactless entry with Visa, Mastercard, JCB, UnionPay and American Express.

For a first-time Taiwanese visitor this is badly underrated: no transport card to buy, no need to set up Alipay first — you can ride from the moment you land. Compared with other mainland cities, where mobile payment usually has to be sorted out first, Beijing is the friendliest on this front.

For taxis, Didi works with a Taiwanese phone number and behaves much like Uber; drivers usually identify you by the last four digits of your number, so enable international calling.

🔴 The foreign-card metro point currently relies on a single source — check against Beijing Metro's official announcements before you travel.

What does a Beijing trip cost?

Roughly NT$20,000–28,000 per person for five days, with flights and accommodation making up the bulk of the cost.

That tickets column is typical of Beijing: nothing is expensive on its own, but there are lots of places to visit. The waiver only covers the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace and a few parks.

Who should the waiver year go to?

If Beijing only saves you CNY 60 to 100, where should the year's allowance go instead?

Beijing works well as a top-up when the waiver year is nearly over, rather than as the main event.

If more than three months remain, our Tibet travel guide for Taiwan residents offers the best value; if only weeks are left, Xiamen has the lowest barrier and includes a second, stackable local scheme.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Forbidden City on the first-timer waiver list? No. We compared the published catalogue of 1,281 attractions line by line: neither the Palace Museum nor the Badaling and Mutianyu Great Wall sections appear. Beijing's ten listed sites are all parks and imperial gardens, which are inexpensive anyway.

How much do Beijing's free attractions actually save? Covering both 5A sites (Temple of Heaven and Summer Palace) plus three or four parks saves roughly CNY 60 to 100. The Temple of Heaven costs CNY 15 and the Summer Palace CNY 30 in high season; the parks cost single-digit figures to low teens.

How do I book the Forbidden City, and do I need a mainland phone number? No mainland number is needed. Use the Palace Museum's traditional-Chinese website or its WeChat mini-program with a Taiwanese phone number and your permit. Tickets for the seventh day ahead are released at 20:00 and sell out fast in peak season.

Which Beijing sites need advance booking? Only the Forbidden City, the National Museum and Tiananmen Square. Travellers report that the Summer Palace, Old Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, Prince Gong's Mansion and Yonghe Temple can be bought on the day, which makes the itinerary far more flexible.

Can I use a Taiwanese credit card on the Beijing metro? As of 2026, the Beijing metro reportedly supports contactless entry with Visa, Mastercard, JCB, UnionPay and American Express, so no transport card is needed. This rests on a single source — confirm officially before travelling.

Is five days enough for Beijing? For a first visit, yes. It covers the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, the Summer Palace and the Temple of Heaven without rushing. Adding Tianjin or the Chengde Mountain Resort needs two more days.

Conclusion

Beijing is worth the trip, but on the waiver there is one thing to remember: this is not where the allowance should go.

All ten listed attractions are parks, together saving under CNY 100, while the Forbidden City and the Great Wall — the two reasons you came — are absent. Rather than bending an itinerary around a policy, treat Beijing as a straightforward World Heritage trip and save the waiver for Tibet, Zhejiang or Fujian.

Only two things genuinely need doing beforehand: add the Forbidden City booking to your plan, and confirm your permit status. The eligibility check is in our Taiwan Compatriot Permit guide.

Ticket prices and booking rules may change; the information posted at each site takes precedence. Free admission is subject to on-site policy and booking requirements.