Distance from Shanghai to Soweto

Flying the shortest possible route, Soweto lies 11,799 km (7,332 miles, 6,371 nautical miles) from Shanghai — the great-circle distance between their coordinates.

The numbers
Great-circle distance
11,799 km · 7,332 mi · 6,371 nmi
Initial bearing Shanghai → Soweto
249° (WSW)
Initial bearing Soweto → Shanghai
63° (ENE)
Nonstop flight (rough estimate)
≈ 14 h 32 min
Time zones
Shanghai UTC+08:00 · Soweto UTC+02:00 (-6 h)
Sunrise gap today
300 min — the sun rises earlier in Shanghai

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
Shanghai
31.2222, 121.4581
Sunrise / sunset today
22:16 UTC / 09:02 UTC
Soweto
-26.2678, 27.8585
Sunrise / sunset today
03:16 UTC / 16:31 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.