Golden hour in Shanghai
Golden hour in Shanghai starts at 18:25 on 15 June and runs 36 minutes; on 15 December it is 37 minutes from 16:17. The calculator above is preset to Shanghai — pick a date and sunrise, sunset, golden and blue hour for that exact shoot day are right there, exportable as a calendar entry.
Golden hour calculator for Shanghai
Or enter coordinates
- Sunrise
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- Sunset
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- Golden hour (am)
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- Golden hour (pm)
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- Blue hour (pm)
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- Daylight
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- Sunset azimuth
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Runs entirely in your browser — no sign-up, nothing transmitted.
Golden and blue hour in Shanghai: all twelve months
Everything derives from the coordinates of Shanghai (31.2304, 121.4737) and the Asia/Shanghai timezone — no estimates. The planning-relevant part: the evening window here swings between 32 minutes in March and 37 in December — schedule "an hour" and you are wrong in both.
| Month | Sunrise | Sunset | Golden am (until) | Golden pm (from) | Blue hour (from) | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 06:54 | 17:14 | 07:30 | 16:38 | 17:30 | 10h 20min |
| February | 06:37 | 17:41 | 07:10 | 17:08 | 17:57 | 11h 04min |
| March | 06:06 | 18:02 | 06:38 | 17:30 | 18:17 | 11h 56min |
| April | 05:27 | 18:22 | 06:00 | 17:50 | 18:38 | 12h 55min |
| May | 05:00 | 18:43 | 05:34 | 18:09 | 18:59 | 13h 43min |
| June | 04:50 | 19:00 | 05:26 | 18:25 | 19:17 | 14h 10min |
| July | 05:01 | 19:00 | 05:36 | 18:26 | 19:17 | 14h 00min |
| August | 05:20 | 18:39 | 05:53 | 18:06 | 18:55 | 13h 19min |
| September | 05:39 | 18:02 | 06:11 | 17:30 | 18:17 | 12h 23min |
| October | 05:57 | 17:24 | 06:30 | 16:52 | 17:39 | 11h 27min |
| November | 06:22 | 16:57 | 06:57 | 16:22 | 17:13 | 10h 36min |
| December | 06:46 | 16:54 | 07:23 | 16:17 | 17:10 | 10h 08min |
Fitting the window into the shoot day
The evening window is the reliable half: the crew is warmed up, the setup exists, and golden hour is the last slot before wrap. The morning window right after sunrise (until 05:26 in June) instead requires camera and lighting to be standing before sunrise — with a call well before 04:50.
After sunset, Shanghai still offers the blue hour: from 19:17 to 19:28 in June (11 minutes). If you need both looks on one evening, everything from the start of golden hour to the end of blue hour is one continuous window — with no room for a re-rig inside it.
Frequently asked
When is golden hour in Shanghai today?
Pick today's date in the calculator above — it computes the times for Shanghai from the coordinates, DST included. As a bearing: in mid-June it starts at 18:25, in mid-December at 16:17.
How long does golden hour last in Shanghai?
Between 32 minutes (March) and 37 minutes (December) in the evening. The name misleads — it never actually reaches a full hour here.
How accurate are the times?
To about one minute (standard NOAA-style solar computation). Not included: horizon shading from buildings or hills to the west — which can genuinely shorten the window at your location.