China Makes Casual Museum Visits the New Norm

A tourist from Guangdong, identified only as Ms. Wang, walked past the Beijing Capital Museum while shopping and decided to step inside on a whim. She scanned her ID card and entered without a reservation. “We were just passing by and thought we’d take a look,” she told Xinhua News. “I didn’t expect to skip the online reservation and complicated procedures. We could enter and view exhibitions anytime. The experience was especially good.”

That kind of spontaneous access is becoming increasingly common across China as the country moves to make casual museum visits a normal part of daily life.

Policy Push for Open Doors

On July 20, the National Cultural Heritage Administration issued its “Notice on Doing Well in Museum Opening Services for Summer 2026,” requiring museums to conduct reservation work based on actual conditions. Museums with safe carrying capacity and peak-shifting capabilities should, in principle, cancel reservation restrictions. Those that must retain reservations are directed to simplify the process and maintain traditional service channels such as manual windows and telephone reservations.

The notice builds on a broader policy evolution. In 2024, major cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Chongqing, and Shenzhen began cancelling reservations for most cultural venues. In June 2025, the administration explicitly prohibited a “one-size-fits-all” approach to reservations, as reported at the time. The 2026 notice further solidifies these practices, making reservation-free visits the default for museums with adequate capacity.

Museums Lead the Way

The Nanjing City Wall Museum became the first to pilot walk-in access for individual visitors, allowing entry by simply scanning an ID card. Deputy Director Ren Zhuo explained that cancelling individual visitor reservations aims to “open convenient channels for the public to approach historical culture and improve the accessibility of public cultural resources.” The museum retains group reservations, manual service windows, and green channels for special groups.

Even China’s most popular museums are adapting. The Shaanxi History Museum, described as having “no off-season, only peak season and even more peak season,” has implemented reservation-free visits at its Qin-Han Hall since October 2025. The main hall, which faces greater capacity pressure, continues online reservations but has cancelled Monday closures and extended daily opening hours by one hour from March 15 to November 15. It also added 3,000 daily tickets through paid special exhibitions—visitors who purchase special exhibition tickets can enter the main hall without additional reservation.

From Ticket Control to Service Guarantee

Cancelling reservations does not mean reduced management responsibility. Ma Lin, director of the China Museum Association, argues that the “public cultural space” attribute of museums does not conflict with whether reservations are implemented. “The core issue is whether the venue has the management capability to handle flexible visitor flows,” he said. “Cancelling reservations is not the end of management responsibility, but a shift in management focus—from ‘ticket control before entry’ to ‘service guarantee after entry.’”

Museums are backing this shift with concrete measures. The Nanjing City Wall Museum optimized ID verification channels, added security personnel for on-site crowd management, and extended evening hours to encourage nighttime visits that disperse peak traffic. The Shaanxi History Museum completed a 243-day renovation of air conditioning, electrical systems, and display cases using an “open while renovating” model, improving the visitor experience during peak summer heat.

A National Movement

Chongqing has implemented reservation-free access for all museums and memorial halls citywide, supported by real-time visitor flow warnings, additional volunteer guidance staff, and regular extended closing hours. The city’s policy dates back to July 2024, when it announced the cancellation of reservations for 117 free museums.

Shenzhen has gone further, permanently cancelling reservation restrictions at all 61 museums. Some district-level venues regularly extend nighttime opening hours to accommodate citizens’ spontaneous visits. The city’s broader cultural shift was documented in July 2024 when it eliminated reservations across 133 scenic areas and cultural venues.

Other cities including Wuxi and Yangzhou have long implemented reservation-free visits for individual visitors, with daily visitor capacity caps and short-term flow control when full.

Cultural Benefits for Everyday Life

The policy shift reflects China’s broader goal of making cultural institutions more accessible and integrated into daily routines. The country’s museum boom has been remarkable—by the end of 2024, China had 7,046 registered museums, achieving one museum per 200,000 people, with a free admission rate of 91.46 percent. In 2024, museums received 1.49 billion visitors.

As People’s Daily noted in its coverage of the reservation cancellation trend, the changes are about more than convenience—they reflect a fundamental rethinking of how public cultural resources should serve citizens.

The ultimate goal, as the Xinhua report concludes, is to make “walk-in anytime” the norm. “To make cultural relics ‘come alive,’ we must first let audiences ‘walk in,’” the report states. “When cultural benefits are integrated into every ordinary person’s daily choices, museums better fulfill their original mission—belonging to the people, serving the people.”

As summer 2026 continues and more museums open their doors without reservation requirements, the line between a planned cultural outing and a spontaneous visit is blurring—and that, cultural officials say, is exactly the point.