Jen in China: China Standard Time

This weekend, the US and several other countries entered into daylight savings time. So, the clocks went back an hour. In China, this did not happen. Now, this is not unusual. Many countries do not have this habit. What is odd about China is that, despite its size, China has only one time zone.

The Chinese time zone is called China Standard Time (internationally) or Beijing Standard Time (domestically). Officially, every part of mainland China, from east to west and north to south, has the same time. (Hong Kong and Macau are exceptions.) This would be like if New York and LA observed the same time zone. This has been the Chinese government’s policy since 1949. Prior to 1949, China had five time zones.

I haven’t been able to find exactly why the government discarded the old time zones and instituted the current system. The theories I found were that it was either to streamline government operations, make the country appear more unified, exact control over outer regions, or some combination of these factors. Either way, there are parts of China where the sun doesn’t rise until 10am because they are so far west of Beijing. Many of the western regions are home to Chinese minority groups who often feel discriminated against. It seems like some of them also feel like the policy of one time zone adds to this feeling.

Now, some of these western regions, like Xinjiang, have their own, unofficial time zones. In Xinjiang, the local time zone is two hours behind the official time. People do this to be more in sync with the sun. From what I’ve read, this can get confusing because not everyone follows the same custom in these areas.

So, if you’re ever in China, check the local time, check the official time, and good luck being on time.