Stargazing in Chengde, Hebei, China

Dark-sky rating for Chengde

Chengde, Hebei, China is a mid-sized city (population about 449,325). A place this size typically has a bright suburban sky: main constellations are easy, the Milky Way is washed out. That is an estimate of Bortle class 5–6 from population, not a measurement: the real value depends on the exact spot you observe from.

For a measured reading at any point, open the live Dark Sky map.

Nearest dark-sky places and observatories

• Xinglong Station · observatory · about 70 km away

Milky Way season in Chengde

The bright core of the Milky Way stays low, so you need a clear southern or northern horizon. It climbs at least 20° above the horizon during astronomical darkness in May, June, July, peaking in June at about 20°.

• The north celestial pole stands 41° above the horizon, so stars within 41° of it never set from here.
• About 82.8% of the whole sky rises above the horizon at some point in the year from this latitude.
• The Milky Way's core in Sagittarius culminates about 20° up, staying low, so a clear southern horizon matters.
• At 318 m elevation, roughly 4% of the atmosphere's mass is already below you, which measurably reduces extinction near the horizon.

Tonight and aurora

As of October 19, 2026 (UTC) the Moon is a First Quarter at 54% illumination. Aurora at 41.0° latitude generally needs about Kp 8.7.

Nearby places

• Sanhe, Hebei, China
• Tangshan, Hebei, China
• Tongzhou, Beijing, China
• Chifeng, Inner Mongolia, China
• Beijing, Beijing, China
• Qinhuangdao, Hebei, China