In the 1870s, the Shanghai Xujiahui Observatory was constructed by a French Catholic missionary. In 1880s officials in Shanghai French Concession started to provide a time announcement service using the Shanghai Mean Solar Time provided by the aforementioned observatory for ships into and out of Shanghai. By the end of 19th century, the time standard provided by the observatory had been switched to GMT+08:00.[5] The practice has spread to other coastal ports, and in 1902 the "Coastal Time" was proposed to be the universal time zone for all the coastal ports in China. However, the time zone for the rest of China remained undetermined.
Until 1913, the official time standard for the whole of China was still the apparent solar time of Beijing, the capital of the country at the time. Starting in 1914, the Republic of China government began adopting the Beijing Local Mean Solar Time as the official time standard. By 1918, five standard time zones had been proposed by the Central Observatory of Beiyang government of Republic of China, including the Kunlun (UTC+05:30), Sinkiang-Tibet (UTC+06:00), Kansu-Szechwan (UTC+07:00), Chungyuan (UTC+08:00), and Changpai (UTC+08:30).[5]
The 1947 version time zone assignment that was discontinued in 1949 after the People's Republic of China was founded:
After the defeat of Beiyang government in 1928, the mission of the Central Observatory was moved to Nanjing, and the reference time standard used for the construction of traditional Chinese Calendar was shifted from Beijing Mean Solar Time to UTC+08:00.[5]
In the 1930s, the proposed five time zones had not been fully observed, causing regions in inner China area to adopt their own time standards, resulting in chaos. On 9 March 1939, when the Ministry of the Interior organized a Standard Time Conference in Chongqing, it was decided to adopt the five time zone proposal with slight modification of their borders starting from 1 June, however it was also decided that the entire country would use the Kansu-Szechwan Time (UTC+07:00) during the Second Sino-Japanese War which began at the time.[5]
Following the end of World War II, the five time zone system was resumed, although there is little information about the historical usage of time in the Kunlun and Changpai zones.[citation needed] A further refined system with adjustment to zone assignment in the Northwest part of Gansu was announced in 1947 for adoption in 1948. However, as the Chinese Civil War came to its end in 1949–1950, regional governments under the influence of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), other than those in Xinjiang and Tibet, switched to use the same time as Beijing, which is UTC+08:00, and is later known as Beijing Time or China Standard Time.[5]
There are two independent sources that claim the CCP, and/or the People's Republic of China, were using apparent solar time for Beijing Time before the period between 27 September 1949 and 6 October 1949, and they adopted the time of UTC+08:00 within that period of time, but the claim is dubious.[6]
Time zone changes in Tibet are undocumented, but Beijing Time was in use until at least the mid-1950s. Between 1969 and 1986, the time zone was switched repeatedly between Xinjiang Time (UTC+06:00) and Beijing Time.[5]
In 1997 and 1999, Hong Kong and Macau were transferred to China from the United Kingdom and Portugal respectively, being established as special administrative regions. Although the sovereignty of the SARs belongs to China, they retain their own policies regarding time zones for historical reasons. Due to their geographical locations, both are within the UTC+08:00 time zone, which is the same as the national standard, Beijing time.
Geography
This map shows the difference between legal time and local mean time in China. Northeast China is significantly behind and western parts of China are significantly ahead of local solar time as a single standard time offset of UTC+08:00 is observed across the whole of China, even though the country spans almost five geographical time zones (73°26'E - 134°46'E).
As an illustration of the wide range, the daylight hours (Beijing Time) for the seats of the westernmost (both including and not including Xinjiang due to local customs, see below) and easternmost counties, calculated for the year 2010, are shown here:[7]
The border with Afghanistan at the Wakhjir Pass has the most significant official change of clocks for any international land frontier: UTC+08:00 in China to UTC+04:30 in Afghanistan.
In Xinjiang, two time standards are used in parallel, namely Beijing Time and Xinjiang Time.[11][5]
Xinjiang Time, also known as Ürümqi Time (Chinese:乌鲁木齐时间; pinyin:Wūlǔmùqí Shíjiān), is set due to its geographical location in the westernmost part of the country.[12] The time offset is UTC+06:00, which is two hours behind Beijing, and is shared with neighbouring Kyrgyzstan.
Some local Xinjiang authorities now use both time standards side by side.[13][14] Television stations schedule programmes in different time standards according to their nature.[5]
The coexistence of two time zones within the same region causes some confusion among the local population, especially when inter-racial communication occurs. When a time is mentioned in conversation between Han and Uyghur, it is necessary to either explicitly make clear whether the time is in Xinjiang Time or Beijing Time, or convert the time according to the ethnicity of the other party.[15][16][17] The double time standard is particularly observable in Xinjiang Television, which schedules its Chinese channel according to Beijing time and its Uyghur and Kazakh channels according to Xinjiang time.[18]
Regardless, Beijing Time users in Xinjiang usually schedule their daily activities two hours later than those who live in eastern China. As such, stores and offices in Xinjiang are commonly open from 10am to 7pm Beijing Time, which equals 8am to 5pm in Ürümqi Time.[19] This is known as the work/rest time in Xinjiang.[20]
In most areas of Xinjiang, the opening time of local authorities is additionally modified by shifting the morning session 30–60 minutes earlier and the afternoon session 30 minutes later to extend the lunch break for 60–90 minutes, so as to avoid the intense heat during noon time in the area during summer.[14]
Hong Kong and Macau
Hong Kong and Macau maintain their own time authorities after transfer of sovereignty in 1997and 1999 respectively. The Hong Kong Time (Chinese:香港時間; Jyutping:hoeng1 gong2 si4 gaan3) and Macau Standard Time[21] (Chinese:澳門標準時間; Jyutping:ou3 mun2 biu1 zeon2 si4 gaan3; Portuguese: Hora Oficial de Macau[22]) are both UTC+08:00 all year round, thus in line with Beijing time, and daylight saving time has not been used since 1979 in Hong Kong and 1980 in Macau.[23][24] In Hong Kong, Greenwich Mean Time was adopted as the basis in 1904, and UTC was adopted as a standard in 1972. Before that, local time was determined by astronomical observations at Hong Kong Observatory using a 6-inch Lee Equatorial telescope and a 3-inch Transit Circle[clarify].[25]
Taiwan, which is not governed under the authority of the People's Republic of China (see political status of Taiwan), also uses UTC+08:00, which corresponds well to its longitude.
IANA time zone database
The territory of the People's Republic of China is covered in the IANA time zone database by the following zones. "Asia/Shanghai" is used instead of "Asia/Beijing" because Shanghai is the most populous location in the zone.[26]
Columns marked with * are from the file zone.tab of the database.
The following zones, including Asia/Kashgar, Asia/Chongqing, and Asia/Harbin, are kept in the "backzone" file of the IANA time zone database for backward compatibility.
A time zone is an area which observes a uniform standard time for legal, commercial and social purposes. Time zones tend to follow the boundaries between countries and their subdivisions instead of strictly following longitude, because it is convenient for areas in frequent communication to keep the same time.
The Alaska Time Zone observes standard time by subtracting nine hours from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC−09:00). During daylight saving time its time offset is eight hours (UTC−08:00). The clock time in this zone is based on mean solar time at the 135th meridian west of the Greenwich Observatory.
The Hawaii–Aleutian Time Zone observes Hawaii–Aleutian Standard Time (HST) by subtracting ten hours from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC−10:00). The clock time in this zone is based on the mean solar time of the 150th meridian west of the Greenwich Observatory.
Hong Kong Time is the time in Hong Kong, observed at UTC+08:00 all year round. The Hong Kong Observatory is the official timekeeper of the Hong Kong Time. It is indicated as Asia/Hong_Kong in the IANA time zone database.
Singapore Time (SGT), also known as Singapore Standard Time (SST), is used in Singapore and is 8 hours ahead of UTC (UTC+08:00). Singapore does not observe daylight saving time.
UTC+08:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +08:00.
There are eleven time zones in Russia, which currently observe times ranging from UTC+02:00 to UTC+12:00. Daylight saving time (DST) has not been used in Russia since 26 October 2014. From 27 March 2011 to 26 October 2014, permanent DST was used.
Thailand follows UTC+07:00, which is 7 hours ahead of UTC. The local mean time in Bangkok was originally UTC+06:42:04. Thailand used this local mean time until 1920, when it changed to Indochina Time, UTC+07:00; ICT is used all year round as Thailand never observed daylight saving time. Thailand shares the same time zone with Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Christmas Island, and Western Indonesia.
The UTC offset is the difference in hours and minutes between Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and local solar time, at a particular place. This difference is expressed with respect to UTC and is generally shown in the format ±[hh]:[mm], ±[hh][mm], or ±[hh]. So if the time being described is two hours ahead of UTC, the UTC offset would be "+02:00", "+0200", or simply "+02".
Iran Standard Time (IRST) or Iran Time (IT) is the time zone used in Iran. Iran uses a UTC offset UTC+03:30. IRST is defined by the 52.5 degrees east meridian, the same meridian which defines the Iranian calendar and is the official meridian of Iran.
Macau Standard Time is the time in Macau. The time is UTC+8 all year round, and daylight saving time has not been applied since 1980.
National Standard Time is the official time zone in Taiwan defined by an UTC offset of +08:00. This standard is also known as Taipei Time (臺北時間), Taiwan Time (臺灣時間) or Taiwan Standard Time (TST).
Time in Mongolia is officially represented by the Mongolian Standard Time (UTC+08:00). However, the far western provinces of Khovd, Uvs and Bayan-Ölgii use UTC+07:00.
The time zones of China refer to the time zone divisions used in China between 1918 and 1949. The first time zone plan was proposed by the Central Observatory of the Beiyang government in Peking (Beijing) in 1918. The proposal divided the country into five time zones: Kunlun (UTC+05:30), Sinkiang-Tibet (UTC+06:00), Kansu-Szechwan (UTC+07:00), Changhua (UTC+08:00) and Chinghai (UTC+08:30). These time zones were ratified in 1939 by the Nationalist government in the Standard Time Conference, hosted by the Ministry of Interior of Executive Yuan. Because of the Second Sino-Japanese War, it was also stated that Kansu-Szechwan time shall be the sole national time during the war time. After the war in 1945, these five times zones were implemented national widely. In 1949, after the Chinese Civil War, the Central People's Government abolished the five time zones and announced to use a single time zone UTC+08:00 named Beijing Time (北京时间). The term Changhua Standard Time (中原標準時間) was still used by the Government of the Republic of China on Taiwan until the early 2000s.
As of 2022, daylight saving time is used in the following Asian countries:
Daylight saving time (DST), also known as summer time, is the practice of advancing clocks during part of the year, typically by one hour around spring and summer, so that daylight ends at a later time of the day. As of 2024, DST is observed in most of Europe, most of North America and parts of Africa and Asia around the Northern Hemisphere summer, and in parts of South America and Oceania around the Southern Hemisphere summer. It was also formerly observed in other areas.
Xinjiang Time, also known as Ürümqi Time, is a time standard used in Xinjiang, China. It is used alongside Beijing Time, which is widely observed by the rest of the country. The time offset is UTC+06:00, which is two hours behind Beijing Time and is the same offset used by Kyrgyzstan and most of Kazakhstan. This offset accounts for Xinjiang's geographical location in the westernmost part of China.
Red August is a term used to indicate a period of political violence and massacres in Beijing beginning in August 1966, during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. According to official statistics published in 1980 after the end of the Cultural Revolution, Red Guards in Beijing killed a total of 1,772 people during Red August, while 33,695 homes were ransacked and 85,196 families were forcibly displaced. However, according to official statistics published in November 1985, the number of deaths in Beijing during Red August was 10,275.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing is part of the worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The disease first reached Beijing on 20 January 2020.
References
↑ 时间的概念[The concept of time]. 国家授时中心科普网站 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 16 October 2012.
↑ 黑河综合遥感联合试验：冰沟流域加密观测区径流加强观测数据集[WATER: Dataset of intensive runoff observations in the Binggou watershed foci experimental area]. 国家青藏高原科学数据中心[National Tibetan Plateau Data Center] (in Simplified Chinese). Retrieved 26 March 2021.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Guo, Qing-sheng (2001). 中国标准时制考[A Study on the Standard Time Changes for the Past 100 Years in China](PDF). China Historical Materials of Science and Technology (in Chinese (China)). 22 (3): 269–280. 1000-0798(2001)03-0269-12. Archived from the original(PDF) on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
↑ Guo, Qingsheng (2003). "Beijing Time at the Beginning of PRC". China Historical Materials of Science and Technology'. 24 (1): 5–9.
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