Do you need to book Old Dragon's Head in advance?

The booking rule, in detail

Reservation

Required in advance

Foreign passport

A foreign passport works as the real-name ID.

Official channel

http://www.shgjq.com/pwxx/430.jhtml

How a foreign visitor actually books it

Real-name entry with your passport, at the gate or via the official channel. On its own it's around ¥60 (about ¥30 half-price), or it's covered by the two-day Shanhaiguan combined ticket (~¥140/70) along with the First Pass. It's about 5 km south of the old town — a short taxi or DiDi from the First Pass; don't believe drivers who tell you it needs an expensive chartered car.

What else to know

This is the real reason to come — the point where the Ming Great Wall runs down to the Bohai Sea and the rampart ends in the water, with the Chenghai Tower and the rebuilt Haishen (Sea God) temple. Like much of Shanhaiguan it was reconstructed last century after the original was wrecked, but the setting — masonry wall meeting open sea — is genuinely striking and hard to find anywhere else on the Wall. Published rate is roughly ¥60/30 standalone; the two-day combined ticket usually makes more sense if you're also doing the First Pass.

If the official channel does not work

The two reliable fallbacks are your hotel front desk, which books these through domestic apps every day, and the on-site manual window where one still exists. What does not work is buying from someone who approaches you or from a marketplace listing: entry is real-name, so a ticket registered to another person’s ID will not admit you. The mechanics are in buying tickets the official way and booking without WeChat.

Other Qinhuangdao sights that need booking

• First Pass Under Heaven, Shanhaiguan