Coordinate model
Shanghai is computed at 31.23°N, 121.47°E in Asia/Shanghai. The coordinate, not the country or timezone alone, controls the curve.
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Daylight curve
31.23°N · 121.47°E. Each vertical bar is one day of the year — bar height shows total daylight minutes.
Last updated recently. Daylight values are generated from the city coordinates and solar-position math during the page revalidation window.
Longest day
14.2h
2026-06-18
Shortest day
10.1h
2026-12-17
Average
12.2h
Δ seasonal
Today's solar window
Sunrise
4:49 AM
Solar noon
11:53 AM
Sunset
6:56 PM
Day length
14h 7m
Civil twilight (-6°)
4:21 AM to 7:24 PM
Nautical twilight (-12°)
3:47 AM to 7:58 PM
Astronomical twilight (-18°)
3:11 AM to 8:34 PM
Golden hour1h 45m total
4:32 AM to 5:24 AM · 6:21 PM to 7:13 PM
Blue hour22m total
4:21 AM to 4:32 AM · 7:13 PM to 7:24 PM
Seasonal checkpoints
March equinox
Mar 20
12h 8m
June solstice
Jun 21
14h 11m
September equinox
Sep 22
12h 9m
December solstice
Dec 21
10h 7m
Full-year edge cases: 0 polar-day entries and 0 polar-night entries in the 2026 curve.
City solar dossier
These rows bind the page to Shanghai's coordinates, local timezone, annual daylight spread, twilight availability, and peer-city curve rather than a reusable sunrise template.
Shanghai is computed at 31.23°N, 121.47°E in Asia/Shanghai. The coordinate, not the country or timezone alone, controls the curve.
4h 4m between Dec 17 (10h 7m) and Jun 18 (14h 11m).
Today resolves to sunrise 4:49 AM, solar noon 11:53 AM, and sunset 6:56 PM.
golden hour today 1h 45m; blue hour today 22m; longest golden-hour day Dec 21 — 1h 47m
365 days include astronomical darkness; 0 civil white-night days and 0 astronomical white-night days are modeled in 2026.
Tel Aviv (4h 12m swing); Cairo (3h 53m swing); Delhi (3h 39m swing); Perth (4h 11m swing); Los Angeles (4h 32m swing)
Solar evidence pack
This audit ties the page to a retained city route, exact coordinates, local timezone, a full-year daylight curve, twilight thresholds, and peer-city comparisons.
/sun/shanghai/ resolves to Shanghai, China; the route is generated only from the retained SUN_CITIES list.
31.23°N, 121.47°E; latitude band mid-latitude band; Northern Hemisphere.
Asia/Shanghai is used to anchor today's local sunrise, sunset, solar noon, and twilight windows.
365 daily daylight rows were computed for 2026; expected 365.
Longest Jun 18 (14h 11m), shortest Dec 17 (10h 7m), average 12h 10m.
Fastest gain Jan 15 (+2m from the previous day); fastest loss Jul 24 (-2m from the previous day); closest 12-hour day Mar 16 at 12h (no change from 12h).
Today: sunrise 4:49 AM, solar noon 11:53 AM, sunset 6:56 PM.
Golden Dec 21 — 1h 47m; blue Jun 21 — 22m; civil Jun 21 — 56m; astronomical night Dec 21 — 11h.
365 days with astronomical darkness; 0 civil white-night days; 0 astronomical white-night days.
March equinox: 12h 8m; June solstice: 14h 11m; September equinox: 12h 9m; December solstice: 10h 7m
Tel Aviv (4h 12m); Cairo (3h 53m); Delhi (3h 39m); Perth (4h 11m); Los Angeles (4h 32m)
Solar thresholds are NOAA-style; timezone rules use IANA. The page is a planning model, not a legal almanac or obstruction-aware site survey.
Practical read
Photography
1h 45m golden hour today
Best annual golden-hour day: Dec 21 — 1h 47m. Blue-hour total today: 22m.
Astronomy
365 true-darkness days
Longest astronomical-night entry: Dec 21 — 11h. Use local cloud cover and moon phase separately.
Outdoor routine
14h 7m daylight today
Sunrise 4:49 AM and sunset 6:56 PM are the practical day-boundaries for school runs, work windows, and outdoor activity.
Seasonal planning
4h 4m annual swing
June average 14h 9m; December average 10h 9m. This is the year-scale gap to check before travel or outdoor scheduling.
Travel comparison
10 retained peer curves
Shanghai's closest daylight-pattern peers here include Tel Aviv (4h 12m annual swing), Cairo (3h 53m annual swing), Delhi (3h 39m annual swing), Perth (4h 11m annual swing).
Civil-light risk
Full civil-twilight bound all year
Civil twilight uses -6°. White-night counts matter because dawn/dusk phases stop behaving like ordinary morning/evening windows.
Calculation boundaries
What this model includes
Latitude, longitude, solar elevation thresholds, atmospheric-refraction sunrise/sunset convention, Asia/Shanghai local formatting, and a 365-day sweep for 2026.
What this model excludes
Mountains, skyline obstruction, sea horizon differences, weather, smoke, cloud cover, local legal definitions, aviation rules, and observer elevation.
When to verify elsewhere
Use official observatory, aviation, maritime, legal, or local almanac sources for high-stakes operations; this page is designed for planning, comparison, and general reference.
Why city pages differ
Two cities in Asia/Shanghai can still have different daylight and twilight curves because the coordinate pair, especially latitude, drives the result.
Seasonal daylight fingerprint
These values are derived from the same 365-day curve: threshold counts, fastest day-to-day change, the closest 12-hour balance, and monthly daylight averages.
14h+ daylight days
47
Days at or above fourteen hours of sun.
10h-or-less days
0
Short-day entries at ten hours or below.
Fastest gain
Jan 15 (+2m from the previous day)
Fastest loss
Jul 24 (-2m from the previous day)
Closest 12-hour balance
Mar 16 at 12h (no change from 12h)
Brightest month
June average 14h 9m
Shortest month
December average 10h 9m
Year-round photographer planning
Combined morning + evening windows, computed for every UTC day of the year.
Twilight phases reference
Solar elevation thresholds used on this page. All angles are measured from the true horizon at the city coordinate.
Sunrise / sunset · -0.833°
The sun's upper edge crosses the horizon. The negative value is atmospheric refraction (~34') plus the apparent solar disc radius (~16') — what almanacs call "official" sunrise/sunset.
Golden hour · 6° to -4°
Warm, low-angle light photographers and cinematographers plan around. Two windows per day — one in the morning, one in the evening.
Blue hour · -4° to -6°
Sky takes on deep, even blues; useful for cityscape photography because artificial lights and ambient sky balance.
Civil twilight · -6°
Brightest natural objects are still visible; outdoor activities don't need artificial light. Used in many legal definitions of dawn/dusk.
Nautical twilight · -12°
Horizon is just visible at sea, allowing celestial navigation; named for sailors taking sextant fixes.
Astronomical twilight · -18°
Sky is dark enough for deep-sky observation. After astronomical dusk and before astronomical dawn is when astrophotographers shoot.
Solar planning depth
Reference fields include Shanghai's route, coordinates, timezone, daylight extremes, twilight windows, white-night counts, peer curves, evidence checks, and calculation boundaries.
Frequently asked questions
These are selected by latitude and annual daylight swing, not by the generic city list, so the comparison is tied to Shanghai's actual solar profile.