Distance from Riyadh to Shanghai
The great-circle distance between Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Shanghai, China is 7,239 km (4,498 mi · 3,909 nmi) — the shortest possible route over the Earth's surface, the path aircraft approximately follow.
The numbers
- Great-circle distance
- 7,239 km · 4,498 mi · 3,909 nmi
- Initial bearing Riyadh → Shanghai
- 65° (ENE)
- Initial bearing Shanghai → Riyadh
- 285° (WNW)
- Nonstop flight (rough estimate)
- ≈ 9 h 10 min
- Time zones
- Riyadh UTC+03:00 · Shanghai UTC+08:00 (+5 h)
- Sunrise gap today
- 299 min — the sun rises later in Riyadh
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
- Riyadh
- 24.6877, 46.7219
- Sunrise / sunset today
- 02:43 UTC / 14:50 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.