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While one side of the country is eating lunch, another is eating supper, but it is the same time in both.<\/p>\n
Despite spanning five time zones, China follows one standard time, known as Beijing Time domestically and China Standard Time internationally.<\/p>\n
This was done by the Communist Party to promote national unity in 1949. Daylight savings were abandoned in 1991.<\/p>\n
The most westerly part of the country is in GMT+5 and the most easterly is in GMT+9, meaning when it is 12pm in Kashgar it should be 5pm in Harbin.<\/p>\n
Instead, it is always GMT+8 across the entire 3000-mile country, regardless of when the sun rises and sets.<\/p>\n
READ MORE <\/strong> China denies new virus is behind mysterious pneumonia outbreak in children[LATEST] <\/strong><\/p>\n That can lead to headaches \u2014 and lost sleep.<\/p>\n “It’s hard to adjust,” says Gao Li, a sanitation worker in Urumqi.<\/p>\n “I often think we must be the only people who eat dinner at midnight.”<\/p>\n Schools, airports and train stations operate at odd hours, national exams are taken in the dead of night and restaurants open into the early hours.<\/p>\n However, not all follow the standard time, with Uighurs in Xinjiang setting their clocks two hours earlier to match their local times.<\/p>\n This can cause confusion between people who live in the area.<\/p>\n DON’T MISS <\/strong> ![](\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/78\/590x\/secondary\/5083838.jpg?r=1700841284883\")
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Everything we know so far as China in grips of new respiratory illness[LATEST] <\/strong>
WHO issues urgent warning as children in China falling ill in increased numbers[REPORT] <\/strong>
China launches \u2018Tidy Police\u2019 in crackdown on people failing to make their beds[INSIGHT] <\/strong><\/p>\n\n