Qibla direction in Xiantao

How to face the Qibla in Xiantao

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards west and move a further 11.5° towards north: the result is the bearing of 281.5°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at west would leave you about 12° 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 Xiantao, 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 Xiantao to Mecca points to 262.3° (west), a full 19.2° away from the true Qibla of 281.5° (west). The map line keeps one compass heading and is 112 km longer than the great-circle route. Because the Earth is a sphere, the shortest way to Mecca from Xiantao first heads west, and that is the direction to face.

How is the figure of 281.5° obtained? From the coordinates of Xiantao (30.3708° N, 113.4429° 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 Xiantao to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 7,308 km from Xiantao as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 7,189 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 9 h 06 min, although most pilgrims from Xiantao connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Xiantao 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 Xiantao rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Xiantao

On 121 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Xiantao 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 18:10 local time.

On 225 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 07:49.

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

Xiantao compared with other cities

Compared with Beijing, 1,094 km away, the Qibla in Xiantao is turned 2.7° further clockwise (281.5° against 278.9°), and Mecca is 77 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Jingling (45 km), prays towards 281.3°, 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 Xiantao

• Jingling281.3° · 45 km
• Qianjiang, Hubei, China281.3° · 53 km
• Xindi281.8° · 62 km
• Chengzhong281.3° · 65 km
• Xiaogan281.5° · 77 km
• Wuhan281.8° · 82 km