Qibla direction in Gejiu

How to face the Qibla in Gejiu

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.

The scholars distinguish two cases: the one who sees the Kaaba aims at the building itself, while the one who cannot see it, as anywhere in Gejiu, aims at its direction as well as he reasonably can. Comparing with the mihrab of a local mosque is a quick way to confirm the result. If you travel or move house, check the angle again, since it changes from place to place.

Why a flat map shows a different direction

A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Gejiu to Mecca points to 268.1° (west), 13.4° away from the correct 281.5°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 54 km longer than the true shortest route. The Qibla follows the great circle, the shortest path on the curved Earth, which is why the bearing differs.

The value of 281.5° is the direction in which the shortest route from 23.3609° N, 103.1537° E sets off towards the Kaaba at 21.4225° N, 39.8262° E. Every accurate Qibla calculator, and the plans of well-oriented mosques, arrive at the same angle for this point.

Distance from Gejiu to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 6,460 km from Gejiu as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 6,400 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 8 h 06 min, although most pilgrims from Gejiu connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Gejiu 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 Gejiu rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Gejiu

On 121 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Gejiu 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 18:39 local time.

On 218 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 08:04.

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

Gejiu compared with other cities

Compared with Beijing, 2,221 km away, the Qibla in Gejiu is turned 2.6° further clockwise (281.5° against 278.9°), and Mecca is 924 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Mengzi (23 km), prays towards 281.6°, a difference of 0.1°.

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 Gejiu

• Mengzi281.6° · 23 km
• Kaiyuan, Yunnan, China281.4° · 40 km
• Wenshan City281.8° · 112 km
• Yuxi280.7° · 127 km
• Haikou, Yunnan, China280.5° · 168 km
• Anning280.4° · 186 km