Qibla direction in Huayin

How to face the Qibla in Huayin

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards west and move a further 7.9° towards north: the result is the bearing of 277.9°. The direction is close to due west, which makes it easy to remember.

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 Huayin, 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 Huayin to Mecca points to 258.0° (west), a full 19.9° away from the true Qibla of 277.9° (west). The map line keeps one compass heading and is 110 km longer than the great-circle route. Because the Earth is a sphere, the shortest way to Mecca from Huayin first heads west, and that is the direction to face.

How is the figure of 277.9° obtained? From the coordinates of Huayin (34.5653° N, 110.0664° 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 Huayin to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 6,916 km from Huayin as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 6,776 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 8 h 38 min, although most pilgrims from Huayin connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Huayin 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 Huayin rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Huayin

On 144 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Huayin 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 18:39 local time.

On 207 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 07:31.

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

Huayin compared with other cities

Compared with Beijing, 816 km away, the Qibla in Huayin is turned 0.9° further anticlockwise (277.9° against 278.9°), and Mecca is 468 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Yongji (48 km), prays towards 278.0°, 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 Huayin

• Yongji278.0° · 48 km
• Weinan277.7° · 52 km
• Shangluo278.2° · 79 km
• Yuncheng278.2° · 99 km
• Hancheng277.7° · 105 km
• Sanmenxia278.4° · 106 km