Beijing Sunrise and Sunset 2026: Times, Gates and Viewpoints

Start with the gate time, then the sun

Beijing's earliest sunrise is about 4:46 and its latest about 7:36. The earliest sunset is about 16:53 and the latest about 19:46. That is a spread of more than two and a half hours, yet most parks in the city open at a fixed 6am or 6:30am. The consequence is easy to miss: in summer the sunrise is effectively unavailable to ordinary visitors, and late autumn through early spring is the realistic season for watching the sun come up from inside a park.

So the order of planning is gate time first, walking time from gate to viewpoint second, and the sunrise table last. Checking only the table is the commonest summer mistake, and it usually ends with someone standing outside a locked gate at five in the morning for an hour. The table below is still worth keeping, because it tells you how much margin you have and whether the light will be low or already high when you arrive.

Sunrise and sunset through the year, with direction

For the city centre, sunrise and sunset run roughly as follows. 1 January: 7:36 and 16:59. 1 February: 7:21 and 17:33. 1 March: 6:47 and 18:07. The spring equinox: 6:17 and 18:26. 1 April: 5:58 and 18:41. 1 May: 5:15 and 19:08. 1 June: 4:48 and 19:38. The summer solstice: 4:46 and 19:46. 1 July: 4:52 and 19:45. The changes come fastest around the equinoxes, at two to three minutes a day, and slowest near the solstices, when the times barely move for a fortnight.

The second half of the year: 1 August 5:15 and 19:27. 1 September 5:40 and 18:47. The autumn equinox 6:00 and 18:10. 1 October 6:09 and 17:57. 1 November 6:44 and 17:13. 1 December 7:19 and 16:49. The winter solstice 7:33 and 16:53. Times shift by a minute or two between years and across the width of the city, so treat these as planning figures rather than exact predictions. Apps that give a location-specific figure are worth the extra tap, especially if you are heading to a western suburb.

Direction matters as much as time. At the equinoxes the sun rises due east and sets due west. In summer it rises east-northeast and sets west-northwest, and in winter it rises east-southeast and sets west-southwest. This changes what sits in your frame. From Wanchun Pavilion in summer the rising sun is over the northeast corner of the Forbidden City; in winter it comes up further south and the roof layers read completely differently. A phone compass is more useful than memorising angles.

How park opening times cut the usable window

Jingshan Park opens at about 6am in peak season and 6:30am in the low season, and the climb to Wanchun Pavilion adds ten to fifteen minutes. The Summer Palace opens at about 6am in peak season and 6:30am otherwise. Beihai opens at about 6am. The Temple of Heaven gate opens at about 6am, but halls such as the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests do not open until 8am. The Olympic Forest and Fragrant Hills also open at about 6am. These fixed times decide whether you can catch low-angle light near the horizon.

Working from that constraint, sunrise falls before 6am from mid-March to mid-October, so the sun has already left the horizon when the gates open. Only from late October to early March, when sunrise is after about 6:30, does an in-park sunrise work. In summer you either choose waterfronts, streets and hutongs that stay open around the clock, or accept that the sun is up and shoot the city in early morning light instead. Both are reasonable, but only one matches the plan you wrote.

Spring: wind, due east and unreliable visibility

Around the spring equinox sunrise is about 6:17 and Jingshan is already open, which makes spring the easiest season to execute. From the east side of Wanchun Pavilion you look down on the Forbidden City roofs as the sun comes up slightly north of due east, so the ridge lines fall into shadow and suit silhouettes. Morning temperatures are still around 5C, and wind on the hill makes it feel three to five degrees colder than the forecast.

The variable is dust. March and April bring frequent haze, and visibility swings from hour to hour. Before you leave, check the air quality index and live visibility rather than the cloud icon. The day after a strong wind is often the clearest, which makes it a good second attempt. If visibility stays below five kilometres for two days running, replace the sunrise plan with a hutong walk rather than waiting on a hill.

Summer: a 4:46 sunrise and an impractical morning

At the summer solstice the sun rises at about 4:46 and sets at about 19:46, with nearly fifteen hours of daylight. This is not friendly to visitors staying in the city. First metro trains mostly run between 5am and 5:30am, so by the time you reach a park gate it is close to 6am, the sun is more than twenty degrees up, and the colour temperature has gone white. The atmosphere people associate with sunrise has usually gone by then.

A better approach is to move the effort to the evening. With sunset at 19:46, the light is still good at 17:30, so you can visit a park first and wait for the light without a late return. Yinding Bridge at Shichahai, the west side of Wanchun Pavilion and the area around the Olympic Tower are the usual summer evening positions. Afternoon thunderstorms are common, and the half hour after rain often produces a glowing sky worth waiting for.

Autumn: the most balanced stretch of the year

By late September sunrise is back around 6am, just as the gates open, and temperatures sit near 15C. This is the most workable morning window of the year. On 1 October sunrise is about 6:09, and after a few cold fronts the air is often clear enough to see the Western Hills, with the White Pagoda and the ridge line both visible from Jingshan looking northwest. Weekday mornings in this stretch are quiet enough that you can stand at the rail without competing for space.

Autumn evenings work well too. On 1 November sunset is about 17:13, so reaching a viewpoint by 16:00 is enough and you do not stand in the cold for long. Watch the day-night range, which can exceed ten degrees, and the wind on exposed terraces. A thin down jacket or a fleece with a windproof shell is more flexible than one heavy coat, and gloves make the waiting tolerable. Bring a small torch or use your phone, because the stairs down are unlit once the light goes.

Winter: a 7:33 sunrise and the golden bridge arches

Around the winter solstice sunrise is about 7:33 and sunset about 16:53, the one stretch of the year when you can leave at six and still catch the sun coming up. Jingshan opens at 6:30 in the low season, and reaching the top in time for the low light at about 7:30 turns the Forbidden City roofs warm orange. The air is often the clearest of the year. The trade-off is temperature, which can fall to minus eight and feels colder on the hill.

The winter evening event is the light through the Seventeen Arch Bridge at the Summer Palace. For roughly a month either side of the solstice the sun is low enough for rays to pass through the arches and strike the western side, producing rows of gold. The usable window is about 15:30 to 16:10. Arrive by 14:30 on South Lake Island or along the eastern causeway to hold a position, and check the forecast, since cloud and haze weaken the effect considerably.

Morning light against evening light

Air settles overnight, so morning images are cleaner and backlight is less muddy. The blue hour can last twenty to thirty minutes, which suits lakes, street depth and building outlines. There are also fewer people, and in the hutongs you may catch residents opening shutters or breakfast stalls raising steam. Photograph those scenes from the street and ask before close portraits, since these are people's homes rather than a set.

Evening light is warmer because it travels through more atmosphere, which brings out reds and suits silhouettes and skylines. The drawback is accumulated particles: distant views turn grey and contrast drops in backlight. Summer evenings bring fast-changing convective cloud and occasional short-lived glowing skies, while autumn and winter evenings are steadier, more orange-red and shorter. Carry a light jacket either way, because the temperature drops quickly once the sun is gone.

A useful rule beats the weather icon. Twelve to twenty-four hours after a cold front is the transparent period, and both morning and evening are worth the trip. Once still, stable weather has lasted three days or more, haze tends to build in the city and distant views go flat. At that point, switch to close scenes in hutongs and courtyards, where the light matters less than texture and detail.

Viewpoints, settings and phone setup

Wanchun Pavilion at Jingshan is the standard elevated position. West gives the White Pagoda at Beihai with sunset behind it, east gives the Forbidden City roofs at sunrise, and south gives the central axis. The pavilion is narrow and crowded at peak times, so a tripod is impractical; raise the ISO and shoot handheld. A 70 to 200mm lens compresses the roof layers, while a wide lens shows the whole scene but pulls in modern buildings that clutter the frame.

On a phone, turn off the automatic beauty mode and use the pro mode to hold ISO between 100 and 400, adjusting shutter speed to the meter. In backlight, tap the sky to meter, then raise exposure compensation by half a stop to a full stop to keep foreground detail. Use the two or three times zoom rather than digital cropping, and carry a spare battery, since cold mornings drain charge quickly.

Working backwards: a timing table

For a 6:30 sunrise, be at the viewpoint by 6:20, through the gate by 6:10, at the park entrance by 5:50, leaving the metro by 5:35 and your hotel by 5:15. If the viewpoint is Wanchun Pavilion, add the fifteen minute climb and leave the gate a quarter of an hour earlier. Add ten minutes if you are buying a ticket rather than using a card, and check the first train time on your line the night before.

For a 17:00 sunset, start shooting at 16:20, be at the viewpoint by 16:00, at the gate by 15:40 and out of the metro by 15:20. The flag raising at Tiananmen follows sunrise and the lowering follows sunset, with a sixty to ninety minute buffer for security screening. Book through the Tiananmen Square reservation mini program and carry your passport. Most metro lines start between 5am and 5:30am, which rules out a 4:46 summer sunrise from the city centre.

Cold, safety and the trip home

Autumn and winter mornings feel three to five degrees colder than the forecast, and exposed hilltops and lakesides add wind. Wear a base layer that moves sweat, a fleece, and a windproof shell, plus a hat and gloves. Shoes need grip. After snow, stone steps at Jingshan and the bridge deck at the Summer Palace freeze, and a tripod is less stable than a steady hand on ice. Take the stairs slowly and use the handrail.

Time the return to avoid the commute. After a morning shoot, inbound metro trains are busy from 7:30 to 9:00, so eat breakfast first and travel after the peak. After an evening shoot, outbound and interchange traffic peaks between 17:00 and 18:30, so delay by half an hour. Annual park passes, booking rules and closure notices follow the latest official announcements, so check opening hours the day before to avoid a maintenance closure.

Where to go when the gates are still shut

If you are in Beijing in June and still want first light, stay outside the walls. The Shichahai waterfront around Yinding Bridge is open at all hours, with water on both sides and the Drum and Bell Towers as a backdrop. Qianmen Sanlihe, the restored canal south of the Qianmen gate, has stone paths, willows and low bridges, and it is free at any hour. The Liangma River walk in the northeast of the city gives a modern skyline with reflections and few visitors before seven.

These alternatives suit the summer months particularly, because you can be on location at 5am without a ticket or a gate. They also work on days when a park closes for maintenance or a special event. Check the day's sunrise figure, subtract twenty minutes for blue hour, and allow walking time from your hotel. In winter, the same spots are better used at sunset, when the water holds the last warm light for several minutes longer than the streets.