Qibla direction in Shiyan

How to face the Qibla in Shiyan

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards west and move a further 9.3° towards north: the result is the bearing of 279.3°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at west would leave you about 9° 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 Shiyan, 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 Shiyan to Mecca points to 259.9° (west), a full 19.4° away from the true Qibla of 279.3° (west). The map line keeps one compass heading and is 107 km longer than the great-circle route. Because the Earth is a sphere, the shortest way to Mecca from Shiyan first heads west, and that is the direction to face.

How is the figure of 279.3° obtained? From the coordinates of Shiyan (32.6475° N, 110.7781° 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 Shiyan to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 7,013 km from Shiyan as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 6,884 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 8 h 45 min, although most pilgrims from Shiyan connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Shiyan 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 Shiyan rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Shiyan

On 135 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Shiyan 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 15 April 2027 it happens at 18:45 local time.

On 217 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 May (31 days), for instance on 15 March 2027 at 07:39.

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

Shiyan compared with other cities

The Qibla here is practically the same as in Beijing (278.9°), and Mecca is 371 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Laohekou (88 km), prays towards 279.8°, a difference of 0.5°.

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 Shiyan

• Laohekou279.8° · 88 km
• Dengzhou279.9° · 123 km
• Zhenping279.8° · 142 km
• Xiangyang280.2° · 145 km
• Shangluo278.2° · 157 km
• Ankang278.4° · 165 km