Qibla direction in Encheng

How to face the Qibla in Encheng

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards west and move a further 14.7° towards north: the result is the bearing of 284.7°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at west would leave you about 15° 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 Encheng, 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 Encheng to Mecca points to 269.3° (west), a full 15.3° away from the true Qibla of 284.7° (west). The map line keeps one compass heading and is 79 km longer than the great-circle route. Because the Earth is a sphere, the shortest way to Mecca from Encheng first heads west, and that is the direction to face.

How is the figure of 284.7° obtained? From the coordinates of Encheng (22.1866° N, 112.3042° 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 Encheng to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 7,404 km from Encheng as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 7,336 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 9 h 13 min, although most pilgrims from Encheng connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Encheng 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 Encheng rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Encheng

On 103 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Encheng 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 18:35 local time.

On 208 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 07:58.

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

Encheng compared with other cities

Compared with Beijing, 2,008 km away, the Qibla in Encheng is turned 5.8° further clockwise (284.7° against 278.9°), and Mecca is 19 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Changsha, Guangdong, China (45 km), prays towards 284.7°, the same bearing to the tenth of a degree.

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 Encheng

• Changsha, Guangdong, China284.7° · 45 km
• Taishan284.8° · 49 km
• Yangjiang284.7° · 51 km
• Yangchun284.5° · 54 km
• Yunfu284.3° · 87 km
• Jiangmen284.7° · 91 km