People in Beijing now have an easier access to eight major municipal parks. They can buy tickets online in advance or at site by scanning a QR code and enter the parks with e-tickets, Xinhua News Agency reported on July 27.

The eight municipal parks include the Summer Palace, Tiantan Park (Temple of Heaven), Beihai Park, Zhongshan Park, Beijing Zoo, Xiangshan Park (Fragrant Hills Park), Beijing Botanical Garden, and Jingshan Park. Signs with instructions and QR codes can be found at the park entrances.

According to Wang Xiaojun, director of the information center at the Beijing Municipal Administration Center of Parks, they started rolling out the new system at five major parks in May and have received a positive response from visitors. To better serve visitors, three more parks followed. So far, 27 entrances at eight major parks have installed e-ticket devices.

About 330,000 tickets had been sold online to date, mostly full price tickets. Senior citizens and children still need to buy discounted paper tickets.

"E-tickets have greatly reduced the number of people at ticket windows, and can save visitors up to 20 minutes," said Wang.

Eleven municipal parks in Beijing will all achieve online booking before the National Day Golden Week Holiday. The other three parks are Yuyuantan Park, Zizhuyuan Park, and Taoranting Park.