Booking Shanghai museums and sights with a passport

The short answer. Take your passport to every museum and ticketed sight, because entry is tied to a verified identity. The Shanghai Museum East branch takes walk-ins, but the People’s Square branch is scheduled to show only a ticketed exhibition until November 2027. Elsewhere the rule depends on the venue and can change, so check the venue’s own channel (usually a WeChat mini-program) a day or two ahead, and book as early as you can around public holidays.

How does real-name booking work?

Many Shanghai venues sell a ticket against a named person, and staff check it at the gate against an identity document. For a foreign visitor that is the passport. The Shanghai government’s guide to the Shanghai Museum names a passport and the Foreign Permanent Resident ID Card as accepted documents.

• Official channels first. The city’s English portal tells visitors to find the venue in the “Museums & Galleries” section of Intl Services Shanghai, where each venue’s page lists its official ticketing channel and visitor guidance.
• Mini-programs. Many venues take bookings through a WeChat or Alipay mini-program under the venue’s own name. Search for the venue’s Chinese name in the app.
• Ticket platforms. The same portal lists Maoyan, Damai, Meituan, Piaoxingqiu, SmartShanghai and 247 Tickets as online ticketing platforms for exhibitions. These are sales platforms, not the venue. The portal page does not cover ID or reservation rules, which come from the venue.
• Be careful with resellers. The Soong Ching Ling former residence says on its own site that no third party is authorised to sell its tickets or guiding.

When booking, type your name exactly as it appears in the passport and use the passport number as the ID number. A mismatch is a likely reason for a gate to refuse a ticket.

Which venues are walk-in and which need booking?

The rules below were read on the date shown. For anything not listed, we could not confirm the rule from an official page, so the honest answer is “check the venue’s official channel”. Where a source is a few years old or undated, the row says so.

Venue	What the official source says	Read on
Shanghai Museum, People’s Square	The branch closed on 6 May 2026 for a new exhibition, “Ancient Civilizations of the Americas” (世界树之巅), planned for 9 July 2026 to 14 November 2027. During that run it shows no other exhibition and every visitor needs a ticket. Tickets are real-name, one per person, and checked against a valid ID on entry. They are sold through the museum’s mini-program and Ctrip, and at the museum; overseas visitors can use Trip.com. Full price is 148 yuan and the concession ticket 74 yuan. For October and November 2026 it opens Tuesday to Thursday and Sunday 9:00 to 17:00 (last entry 15:00), Friday and Saturday 9:00 to 21:00 (last entry 19:00); closed Monday except national holidays (Huangpu District government, 30 September 2026). Outside the exhibition, normal hours are 9:00 to 17:00 with last entry at 16:00. The notice we read did not say which ID types are accepted.	2026-10-23
Shanghai Museum East (1952 Century Avenue, Pudong)	No reservation for individuals for the permanent galleries; bring the original of a valid ID, scanned at the B1 East Gate. Open 10:00 to 18:00, last entry 17:00; closed Tuesday except national holidays. The Ancient Civilization Exploration Palace (古代文明探索宫) and the digital gallery (数字馆) still need a booking made through the mini-program.	2026-10-22
Oriental Pearl Tower	A 2024 report republished by the city’s culture and tourism bureau says the tower accepts passports and permanent residence permits for booking and entry, with Chinese and English pages on its ticket site and mini-program. A May 2026 city list gives the Second Sphere sightseeing ticket as 199 yuan for adults. We could not read official opening hours.	2026-10-22
Shanghai Tower observation deck (Top of Shanghai)	The tower’s official site says tickets are sold against real names and tells buyers to bring an ID card or passport. A May 2026 city listing gives 180 yuan for adults, 120 yuan for seniors and 90 yuan for children. The page is undated and gives no opening hours.	2026-10-22
Yu Garden (daytime)	A May 2026 city list gives 09:00 to 16:30, last entry 16:00, and 40 yuan for adults and 20 yuan for children and seniors. Discounted and free tickets need a valid ID. We found no official statement on passports or on a closing day.	2026-10-22
China Art Museum (Pudong)	The city’s English portal lists Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 18:00, last admission 17:00; closed Monday except national holidays; permanent exhibition free. Its page gives phone booking for groups only and says nothing on individual booking or ID.	2026-10-22
Museum of the First National Congress of the CPC (site and memorial)	Open Tuesday to Sunday 09:00 to 17:00, last entry 16:30; closed Monday except public holidays. Free guided tours run several times a day. The official page does not say whether individuals must book or what ID foreigners need.	2026-10-22
Soong Ching Ling former residence	Open Tuesday to Sunday 09:00 to 17:00, last entry 16:30; closed Monday. Tickets are sold through the museum’s own WeChat mini-program.	2026-10-22

For the Shanghai Museum, the museum’s own notices and the city’s pages are the source. From 1 September 2025 the People’s Square branch took walk-in visitors for ordinary visits; that no longer holds while the Americas exhibition runs. Before the closure, the museum said reservations were still required in peak periods and for popular special exhibitions. The museum’s current notice says the East branch’s digital gallery needs a separate booking in the mini-program. We found nothing current on Curio-city (珍品), so check it before you go.

The Shanghai Museum and the CPC memorial are different organisations with different rules. Do not assume one rule covers both.

Check the official channel before you go for the Power Station of Art, the Shanghai History Museum, the CPC museum’s rules on individual booking and foreign ID, and any other venue not in the table. We could not confirm their current booking or ID rules from an official page. The Power Station of Art was on the city’s summer 2026 extended-hours list (see below), but we did not read its regular hours. Art museums sometimes admit visitors to a permanent display and charge or require booking for special exhibitions.

What if the booking page won’t take my passport?

1. Look for a passport or “other ID” option on the mini-program’s identity screen.
2. If you cannot book, go to the ticket window with your passport. Some venues keep walk-up tickets, but popular exhibitions and holiday days can sell out.
3. Show this to the staff:

我是外国游客，想用护照买一张今天的票。 (Wǒ shì wàiguó yóukè, xiǎng yòng hùzhào mǎi yì zhāng jīntiān de piào. “I’m a foreign visitor and would like one ticket for today, using my passport.”)

4. If payment fails inside a mini-program, see how to pay in Shanghai for setting up Alipay (支付宝) or WeChat Pay (微信支付) with a foreign card.

Which closing days should I plan around?

Closing days differ even between neighbouring museums. The two Shanghai Museum branches close on different days: Monday for People’s Square, Tuesday for East. Both stay open on national public holidays, according to the Shanghai government’s guide. The other venues in the table close on Monday. Check the day before you travel, and note that last entry is earlier than closing time.

How bad are holiday crowds?

The Shanghai Museum names national holidays first among the periods when it requires reservations. The 2026 holidays gave 3 to 9 days off at a time (see when to visit Shanghai). If you travel in one of those weeks, book timed tickets as soon as the venue’s channel opens and aim for the first slot of the day.

In summer 2026 the Shanghai government listed museums with extended evening hours. The Power Station of Art was among them, open until 19:00 Tuesday to Sunday from 20 July to 23 August. The same notice announced a Shanghai Art Museum Pass (299 yuan, valid 8 July 2026 to 28 February 2027, sold through the 沪小游, Hu Xiaoyou, mini-program). Check whether it suits your plans.

Small print

• Opening hours and booking rules change. The dates in the table are when we read them, not guarantees.
• For getting to the venues, see getting around Shanghai. For a day out of the city, see day trips by train.