Qibla direction in Mingguang

How to face the Qibla in Mingguang

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards west and move a further 12.6° towards north: the result is the bearing of 282.6°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at west would leave you about 13° off.

Facing the Qibla is a condition of the prayer. Whoever prays inside the Sacred Mosque faces the Kaaba itself; whoever is far away, as in Mingguang, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. A nearby mosque is a handy reference, because its prayer rows were aligned when it was built. Once you know the direction at home, a discreet mark on the wall saves you from checking again.

Why a flat map shows a different direction

This is a place where maps mislead badly: a straight line on a flat map from Mingguang to Mecca points to 260.7° (west), a full 21.9° away from the true Qibla of 282.6° (west). The map line keeps one compass heading and is 147 km longer than the great-circle route. Because the Earth is a sphere, the shortest way to Mecca from Mingguang first heads west, and that is the direction to face.

How is the figure of 282.6° obtained? From the coordinates of Mingguang (32.7802° N, 117.9638° E) and of the Kaaba (21.4225° N, 39.8262° E), spherical trigonometry gives the starting bearing of the great circle joining them. Mosque architects and astronomical Qibla tables rely on exactly the same calculation.

Distance from Mingguang to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 7,671 km from Mingguang as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 7,533 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 9 h 31 min, although most pilgrims from Mingguang connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Mingguang run 5 hours ahead of Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Mingguang rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Mingguang

On 120 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Mingguang while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in May (31 days); for example, on 1 May 2027 it happens at 18:04 local time.

On 231 days the sun stands exactly opposite the Qibla: then the shadow of any vertical object, a pole, a door frame or a plumb line, points straight towards Mecca. This is most frequent in March (31 days), for instance on 1 March 2027 at 07:05.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Mingguang: at 17:18 and 17:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Mingguang compared with other cities

Compared with Beijing, 805 km away, the Qibla in Mingguang is turned 3.7° further clockwise (282.6° against 278.9°), and Mecca is 286 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Bengbu (59 km), prays towards 282.2°, a difference of 0.3°.

Across the 612 cities in China on this site, the Qibla ranges from 249.0° in Tacheng to 286.5° in Suifenhe, a spread of 37.5°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for China.

Qibla in cities near Mingguang

• Bengbu282.2° · 59 km
• Chuzhou282.9° · 60 km
• Huainan282.2° · 92 km
• Nanjing283.2° · 111 km
• Hefei282.6° · 120 km
• Suicheng282.2° · 124 km