Distance from Houston to Shanghai
Houston (United States) and Shanghai (China) are 12,197 km apart — that's 7,579 miles or 6,586 nautical miles, measured along the great circle (the shortest path over the Earth's surface).
The numbers
- Great-circle distance
- 12,197 km · 7,579 mi · 6,586 nmi
- Initial bearing Houston → Shanghai
- 327° (NNW)
- Initial bearing Shanghai → Houston
- 34° (NNE)
- Nonstop flight (rough estimate)
- ≈ 15 h 00 min
- Time zones
- Houston UTC-05:00 · Shanghai UTC+08:00 (+13 h)
- Sunrise gap today
- 868 min — the sun rises later in Houston
Flight time is a cruise-speed approximation (no routing/wind); driving distance depends on roads and is typically 20–40% longer than great-circle.
The two cities
- Houston
- 29.7633, -95.3633
- Sunrise / sunset today
- 12:11 UTC / 00:18 UTC
- Shanghai
- 31.2222, 121.4581
- Sunrise / sunset today
- 21:43 UTC / 09:52 UTC
Open in the distance calculator Find the halfway point
Distances here are straight-line (great-circle). Road routes typically run 1.2–1.4× longer — here's why, with the visual.