The Palace Museum has two entrances for visitors: The Meridian Gate (Wu men) at the south and the Gate of Divine Prowess (Shenwu men) at the north. The eastern and western gates, the East Prosperity Gate (Donghua men) and the West Prosperity Gate (Xihua men), are normally restricted to museum staff. However, during the May Day holidays and the National Day holidays, visitors can also enter the museum from the East Prosperity Gate. A small parking lot is available outside the East Prosperity Gate. From the eastern and the western gates it is a 10-minute walk to the Meridian Gate.

Aids and Facilities
[Find them on the map]

Food & Drink
Shops
Information Points
The Museum has information points at
-The Gate of Supreme Harmony (Taihe men)
-The Archery Pavilion (Jian ting)  
Audio Guide
-Audio guides are available at the two entrances. Languages:
Arabic, Bangladeshi, Bulgarian, Cantonese, Dutch, English, Farsi, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Mongolian, Myanmarese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Thai, Vietnamese
-Deposit: 100 yuan per unit.
-Rental fee per unit:
   10 yuan for Mandarin and Cantonese.
   40 yuan for other languages.
-Please return the audio guide before exiting.  
Tour Guides & Docents
Paid tour-guide service is available at the Meridian Gate (Wu men) and the Gate of Divine Prowess (Shenwu men) in Mandarin and English.  
-Routes, duration, and prices for groups no more than 5 people:
   *Central axis: 1 hour, 200 yuan
   *Central axis and west route: 1.5 hours, 300 yuan
   *Central axis, west route, and Treasure Gallery: 2.5 hours, 400 yuan
-Tel：(8610) 8500-7427
-An extra 20 yuan per person will be charged for groups of more than 5 people.  
-Docents are available at the Hall of Clocks and the Treasure Gallery, in Mandarin and occasionally in English.  (Editor:admin)