Golden hour in Shanghai in January

Shanghai lies at 31.23° N, in the subtropics, with short, decisive twilights. Its longest measured day falls on Thu 18 June 2026 with 14h 11m of daylight, and its shortest on Fri 18 December 2026 with 10h 07m — a difference of 4h 04m between the two extremes.

Evening golden hour in Shanghai runs for roughly 36 minutes at the height of summer, 32 minutes around the March equinox and 37 minutes at midwinter. The warm window is actually widest in the colder months, which makes winter evenings unusually forgiving here.

The sun sets toward 298° WNW in late June and toward 243° WSW in late December, a shift of about 55° in where the last light lands — worth checking before committing to a west-facing viewpoint. In Shanghai, the sky reaches full darkness between evening and morning twilight year-round.