Things to do in Beijing and Shanghai: top attractions, tickets, and what travelers actually recommend

Short answer

Short answer: the big sights, then the local favorites

In Beijing, the four anchors are the Forbidden City, the Great Wall at Mutianyu, the Temple of Heaven, and the Summer Palace — all ticketed, most need advance real-name booking. In Shanghai, the anchors are the Shanghai Museum (free permanent exhibitions), Yu Garden, the Oriental Pearl Tower, and the Bund (a free public promenade). Below each city’s official picks we add a “what travelers recommend” block built from Reddit, X, and Xiaohongshu chatter — hutong cafés and 798 in Beijing; the Wukang Road plane-tree district and Suzhou Creek in Shanghai. Those are traveler reports, not official facts, so treat them as inspiration rather than confirmed logistics.

Beijing ① — The Forbidden City (Palace Museum)

The imperial palace at the heart of Beijing and the single most-visited museum in the city. It is closed Mondays and sells no tickets on the day.

Opening: Opens 08:30; last entry 16:00 in high season (Apr 1–Oct 31), 15:30 in low season. Closed Mondays except national holidays.
Ticket: ¥60 high season / ¥40 low season; Treasure Gallery ¥10, Clock Gallery ¥10.
Booking: Advance real-name booking, opens 7 days ahead at 20:00. No on-day tickets. Enter at Meridian Gate, exit at Gate of Divine Prowess / Donghua Gate. Daily cap 40,000.

Foreign visitors book with their passport number. The official channel is the Palace Museum WeChat mini-program; third-party resellers are not authorized.
Go in from the south (Meridian Gate) and out the north (Gate of Divine Prowess) for the classic one-way route toward Jingshan Park.

Source: The Palace Museum official visitor pages (intl.dpm.org.cn / ticket.dpm.org.cn), checked 2026-08-11

Beijing ② — The Great Wall at Mutianyu

The most foreign-visitor-friendly Wall section near Beijing: restored, scenic, with a cable car, and less of a human traffic jam than Badaling.

Opening: Peak season (Mar 16–Nov 15) 07:30–18:00 weekdays / 07:30–18:30 weekends; low season 08:00–17:30. Real-name booking up to 30 days ahead, 1 ticket per ID per day.
Ticket: Entry ¥45; shuttle bus ¥15; cable car ¥100 one-way / ¥140 round-trip. Prices come from booking-platform listings — confirm on the official ticket page on the day you book.

Mutianyu is ~70 km northeast of the city; most visitors take a booked shuttle or a private car. It is a half-day trip at minimum.
Badaling is the most famous section but the most crowded; Jinshanling is the photographer’s pick for raw, unrestored wall.

Source: Mutianyu Great Wall Scenic Area official site (mutianyugreatwall.com), checked 2026-08-11

Beijing ③ — Temple of Heaven & the Summer Palace

Two imperial complexes on opposite sides of the city. Both are real-name, passport-tied, and release tickets about a week ahead in peak season.

Booking-platform listing — verify on the official page before you pay

Temple of Heaven — opening: Core buildings 08:00–18:00 (last entry 17:30) peak / 08:00–17:00 (last 16:30) off-season; park gates 06:00–22:00. Core buildings closed Mondays except holidays.
Temple of Heaven — ticket: Through-ticket ¥34 peak / ¥28 winter; park-only ticket ¥15 peak / ¥10 winter.
Summer Palace — opening: Gates close entry at 19:00 peak / 18:00 off-season; inner sites 08:00–17:30 peak / 08:30–16:30 off-season.
Summer Palace — ticket: Entry ¥30 peak / ¥20 winter; through-ticket (incl. Tower of Buddhist Incense etc.) ¥60 peak / ¥50 winter.

At the Temple of Heaven, the plain park ticket cannot enter the Hall of Prayer or Echo Wall — buy the through-ticket if you want inside the monuments.
The Summer Palace is three-quarters water (Kunming Lake); the through-ticket is worth it if you want to climb the Tower of Buddhist Incense for the panorama.

Source: 2026 OTA + travel-blog consensus for Temple of Heaven; Beijing Tourism Summer Palace guide, checked 2026-08-11

Shanghai ① — Shanghai Museum & Yu Garden

The free museum on People’s Square and the Ming-dynasty garden in the old town. One is free, the other needs a timed ticket.

Shanghai Museum — opening: People’s Square 09:00–17:00 (last entry 15:00), closed Mondays; East Branch 10:00–18:00 (last 17:00), closed Tuesdays. Permanent exhibitions free, no reservation needed. Last-entry cutoff can vary — confirm via the official WeChat mini-program on the day.
Yu Garden — opening: 09:00–16:30 (last entry 16:00), closed Mondays except holidays. Buy only via the official “Shanghai Yu Garden” mini-program.
Yu Garden — ticket: Peak-season (Apr–Jun, Sep–Nov) adult ¥40; low season (Jul–Aug, Dec–Mar) adult ¥30; students/seniors half price.

The museum’s two venues show different collections — bronzes and sculptures at the East Branch, the classic collections at People’s Square. Pick based on what you want to see.
Yu Garden’s surrounding bazaar (Chenghuangmiao) is crowded and tourist-priced; the garden itself is the calm, worthwhile part. Go right at opening.

Source: Shanghai Museum official site; Yu Garden official site (yugarden.com.cn), checked 2026-08-11

Shanghai ② — Oriental Pearl Tower & the Bund

The Lujiazui landmark for a skyline view, and the free riverside promenade across the river. One is ticketed, the other is just a walk.

Oriental Pearl — opening: About 09:00–21:00 year-round (last entry ~20:30). City square and 0m hall are free (ticketed only during peak crowd control).
Oriental Pearl — ticket: Two-sphere ticket about ¥199 (adult); three-sphere combos about ¥299–399 depending on package.
The Bund: Free, 24/7 public riverside promenade along the Huangpu River. The ¥2 ferry from Jinling East Rd pier to Lujiazui beats the tourist tunnel.

For the classic skyline photo, the Bund at golden hour is the move; for the view from above, the Oriental Pearl or Shanghai Tower observation decks deliver.
Skip the Bund sightseeing tunnel — travelers consistently call it tacky and overpriced versus the ¥2 ferry.

→ Getting from Shanghai’s airports to the city

PVG and Hongqiao access, metro lines, and transfer times are covered in the airport module.

Source: Oriental Pearl Tower official site; traveler reports on the Bund ferry (rjawv.com, Trip.com moments), checked 2026-08-11

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Yes. The Palace Museum requires advance real-name booking that opens 7 days ahead at 20:00, and sells no tickets on the day of visit. Foreign visitors book with their passport number via the official Palace Museum WeChat mini-program.

Mutianyu is the most foreign-visitor-friendly: restored, scenic, cable car available, and less crowded than Badaling. It is ~70 km from the city and needs real-name booking up to 30 days ahead (1 ticket per ID per day). Badaling is the most famous but most crowded; Jinshanling suits photographers wanting raw wall.

The permanent exhibitions are free and need no reservation. The People’s Square venue is open 09:00–17:00 (closed Mondays); the East Branch is 10:00–18:00 (closed Tuesdays). Special exhibitions may be ticketed separately.

The garden itself is worthwhile; the surrounding bazaar is crowded and tourist-priced. It needs a timed ticket (peak adult ¥40, low season ¥30) bought only via the official “Shanghai Yu Garden” mini-program, and is closed Mondays except holidays. Go right at opening.

No — the hutong cafés, 798, Wukang Road, Suzhou Creek, and similar picks are aggregated from Reddit, X, and Xiaohongshu traveler posts. They are inspiration, not official visitor information, and are labeled as traveler reports on this page. Confirm hours, prices, and access before you go.

The Bund promenade is free and open 24/7. For the view from the Pudong side, the ¥2 ferry from Jinling East Rd pier to Lujiazui is what travelers recommend over the paid sightseeing tunnel.

How this page was built

Official hours, ticket prices, and booking rules for the Forbidden City, Mutianyu Great Wall, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace, Shanghai Museum, Yu Garden, and Oriental Pearl Tower were taken from each venue’s official site or a 2026 OTA/travel-blog consensus where the official page is not in English, and checked on 2026-08-11.
The Bund is a free public promenade; the ¥2 ferry tip comes from traveler reports (Ctrip/Trip.com moments, 2026), not an official source.
The “what travelers recommend” blocks are built from real, citable traveler posts: Visit Beijing official hutong cafe guide (2026-03), Sina Travel “16家胡同店” (2026-06-21), QQ News Wukang Road spring guide (2026-03-19), Toutiao/小红书-aggregated “hidden gem” lists, and Trip.com Beijing/Shanghai moments. These are tagged evidence_type traveler_reported and shown with a traveler-reported flag.
Social-media signal is never mixed into the official facts. Prices that are not official (e.g., Oriental Pearl packages, Bund ferry) are labeled as listed/reference values.
No affiliate links, no invented “best time,” and no endorsement of any third-party ticket reseller appear on this page.

Last updated: 2026-08-11