China is a vast country encompassing a geographic expanse of the equivalent of five time zones, yet it maintains only one time zone. This single time zone is China Standard Time, or Beijing Time, which is Greenwich Mean Time, plus 8 hours (GMT+8). It is also referred to as Coordinated Universal Time, plus 8 hours (UTC+8). UTC is the same as GMT, except it allows for the occasional leap second to satisfy the slight slowing of the earth’s rotation.

Before the 1949 Chinese Civil War and the establishment of the Communist People’s Republic of China (PRC), China was divided into five time zones. From east to west, they were Changpai Time Zone, Chungyuan Standard Time Zone, Kansu-Szechuan Time Zone, Sinkiang-Tibet Time Zone, and Kunlun Time Zone, ranging from GMT + 8.5 to 5.5 respectively.

In 1271 AD, Kublai Khan established his Mongol empire’s capital in Peking (modern day Beijing). Since that time, Beijing has continued to be the cultural, commercial, political and progressive center for all Chinese standards. Time was relevant to the activity of Beijing and consequently, one Chinese time zone was established.

China covers a range of 60 degrees longitude. It is traditional for every 15 degrees to be considered one time zone, with one-hour differentials. Northern China has an additional 15 degrees longitude, which accounts for the fifth time zone. China does not observe daylight savings time. However, for a short period from 1986 - 1991, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) did implement it. It seemed inefficient considering the variance of the sun over such a large part of the world.

China is the largest country with only one time zone, followed by India. Living in a country with a common time would be comparable to the United States having Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago and New York all in the same time zone.

Much of China is still agricultural, with the people farming the land. As farmers, they are not as concerned about the official time of day, but rather, the work is dictated by the sun and the needs of crops and livestock. With soil erosion and much of the farmland being urbanized, many small communities are no longer reliant on farming. As the people become more involved in manufacturing, time will become more of an issue. To solve this dilemma, some communities use their own private time, along with the nations single zone time.

In western China, the sun may not rise until 10:00am, and it sets much later than normal as well. This makes the winters even more pronounced. There is a single unified national news announcement, programmed simultaneously all over the country. Though this eliminates any confusion or conflicting elements in hearing the daily news, it requires the factories and businesses to make available options for their workers.