Current visitor details
Hours, admission, booking and passport guidance below come from the Place record shared by city, itinerary and booking pages. Unverified or stale high-risk claims are not shown as facts.
Booking
No permanent real-name pre-booking required for standard admission. Combo ticket (¥30) covers both towers. Purchase on-site or via WeChat. The Drum Tower is the more popular of the two; the Bell Tower is often quieter.
Plan ahead: No advance booking needed on standard days. During National Day and Spring Festival, book 1-3 days ahead via WeChat.
On site: On-site tickets available at tower entrance windows.
Channels: 北京钟鼓楼 (Beijing Bell and Drum Towers) WeChat public account · On-site ticket windows
Foreign passport
Foreign visitors can purchase tickets at on-site ticket windows with cash, Alipay, or WeChat Pay. WeChat public account booking may require a Chinese ID; foreign passport support for online booking is not confirmed.
Opening and last entry
Peak season (March 26 to October 25): 09:30-17:30. Off-season (October 26 to March 25): 09:30-16:30. Ticket sales end 30 minutes before closing. The first-floor exhibition hall of the Drum Tower closes on Mondays except public holidays.
Admission
Drum Tower single ticket: ¥20. Bell Tower single ticket: ¥10. Combo ticket for both towers: ¥30. Check the official ticketing account for current concession eligibility.
Visit planning
Allow: 60-90 minutes
Physical load: moderate
Getting there
Subway: Shichahai station (Line 8), approximately 5-minute walk south. Guloudajie station (Line 2/8), approximately 10-minute walk west. Bus routes 5, 60, 82, 107, 124, 135, 635 serve the Drum Tower stop. Walking from Shichahai lakes (Yindingqiao) is approximately 5-10 minutes north. Walking from Nanluoguxiang north end is approximately 10 minutes west.
Accessibility
- Wheelchair access: Both the Drum Tower (69 steps) and Bell Tower (75 steps) require climbing steep historic stone stairs with no elevator or ramp. The plaza between the towers is flat and wheelchair-accessible, but neither tower interior is accessible.
Why this place matters
The Bell and Drum Towers were first built in 1272 (Yuan dynasty, 9th year of Zhiyuan reign) as the timekeeping center of the capital Dadu. They served this function through the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties for nearly seven centuries, marking the hours of the day and night with drum beats and bell strikes. The system divided the night into five watches (geng), announced by drum beats and bell tones. The towers were listed as Major Historical and Cultural Sites in 1996 and are among the 15 components of the Beijing Central Axis UNESCO World Heritage site (inscribed 2024). The present Drum Tower (Gulou) is a Ming structure rebuilt in 1539 (Jiajing 18), standing 46.7 meters tall, with a wooden upper story housing replica drums. The Bell Tower (Zhonglou) was rebuilt in 1745 (Qianlong period) after earlier fires, standing 47.9 meters tall, housing a massive bronze bell cast in the Yongle era weighing approximately 63 tons.
What to notice
- The north-south pairing — the Drum Tower (south) announced the evening watch, the Bell Tower (north) marked the morning. This follows an ancient Chinese urban timekeeping tradition.
- The double-eaved roofs in grey tile — a high architectural rank (appropriate for imperial service buildings) but not imperial yellow, reflecting their function as service rather than residential structures.
- The view south along the axis from the Drum Tower upper level — looking down the axis toward Jingshan and the Forbidden City, this is the clearest axial sightline in Beijing.
- The 63-ton bronze bell in the Bell Tower, one of the heaviest ancient bells in China, whose tone was said to carry for kilometers across the old city.
- The display of the original Ming night-watch drum (with a sword-slash from the 1900 intervention) alongside 24 smaller drums representing the 24 solar terms.
- The climb itself — 69 steps to the Drum Tower, 75 steeper steps to the Bell Tower. Historic stone stairs with two-way traffic. There is no elevator.