Crowds of tourists visit the Palace Museum. [Photo/Xinhua]

How to make an online booking:

1. Individual visitors are required to register on the museum’s official online booking site (http://gugong.228.com.cn) with an individual user account. Required information includes number of visitors (one user account can purchase up to five tickets), date of intended visit, and the ID or passport information of every visitor.

2. The online booking system allows individual visitors to purchase admission tickets 10 days in advance. Certain information may be changed before this deadline, including number of visitors and date of intended visit. The actual number of visitors in the group may be fewer than but not more than the number registered during online booking. On the day of the intended visit, before ticket sales end for the day, the booking can be cancelled.

3. Individual visitors need to decide whether they will purchase an entrance ticket for the Antiquarium Museum and Clock Museum at the Palace Museum before they submit the order. Payment must be completed within 20 minutes or the order will be canceled by the system.

4. Individual visitors are entitled to a receipt after completing online booking. Receipts will be available for pickup at a designated office in the quadrangle between Duanmen and Wumen within 30 days from the date of intended visit (including date of visit).

5. On the day of the intended visit, any of the IDs or passports registered may be used to redeem reserved tickets at the ticketing window. Nevertheless, all visitors in the group must bring their valid ID cards or passports in case of random checks.