- published: 22 Nov 2015
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Time in China follows a single standard time of UTC+08:00, which is 8 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time. China spans five different geographic time zones, from UTC+05:00 in the west to UTC+09:00 in the east, yet since 1949 China has only had a single standard time. The time UTC+06:00 is also used unofficially in Xinjiang and Tibet. Historically under the Republic of China it was divided into five time zones.
In mainland China this standard time is called Beijing Time (北京时间) domestically but it is commonly referred to as China Standard Time (CST) internationally. In Hong Kong it is called Hong Kong Time; in Macau it is called Macau Standard Time; and in Taiwan it is officially called National Standard Time (國家標準時間) and also Chungyuan Standard Time (中原標準時間, Central Standard Time) or Taiwan Standard Time (台灣標準時間).
Time zones were first set up and made official in China in 1912 under the Republic of China. The country was divided into five time zones, namely GMT+5.5, GMT+6, GMT+7, GMT+8 and GMT+8.5. Before that, time varied, while astrological predictions were conducted according to the time standard based on the locations of then capitals of the imperial dynasties.[citation needed] A summer time was observed in 1919 in Tianjin and Shanghai, and parts of China from 1935 to 1962.[citation needed]
China (i/ˈtʃaɪnə/; Chinese: 中国; pinyin: Zhōngguó; see also Names of China), officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is the world's most-populous country, with a population of over 1.3 billion. Covering approximately 9.6 million square kilometres, the East Asian state is the world's second-largest country by land area, and the third- or fourth-largest in total area, depending on the definition of total area.
The People's Republic of China is a single-party state governed by the Communist Party of China. It exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four directly controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and two mostly self-governing special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macau). Its capital city is Beijing. The PRC also claims Taiwan—which is controlled by the Republic of China (ROC), a separate political entity—as its 23rd province, a claim controversial due to the complex political status of Taiwan and the unresolved Chinese Civil War. The PRC government denies the legitimacy of the ROC.
Standard time is the result of synchronizing clocks in different geographical locations within a time zone to the same time rather than using the local meridian as in local mean time or solar time. Historically, this helped in the process of weather forecasting and train travel. The concept became established in the late 19th century. The time so set has come to be defined in terms of offsets from Universal Time. Where daylight saving time is used, the term standard time typically refers to the time without daylight saving time.
The adoption of Standard Time, because of the inseparable correspondence between time and longitude, solidified the concepts of halving the globe into an eastern and western hemisphere, with one Prime Meridian (as well its opposite International Dateline) replacing the various Prime Meridians that were in use.
A standardized time system was first used by British railways on December 11, 1847, when they switched from local mean time to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). It was also given the name Railway time reflecting the important role the railway companies played in bringing it about. The vast majority of Great Britain's public clocks were being synchronised using GMT by 1855.
And now the purple dust of twilight time
Steals across the meadows of my heart
High up in the sky the little stars climb
Always reminding me that we're apart
You wander down the lane and far away
Leaving me a song that will not die
Love is now the stardust of yesterday
The music of the years gone by
Sometimes I wonder why I spend
The lonely night dreaming of a song
The melody haunts my reverie
And I am once again with you
When our love was new
And each kiss an inspiration
But that was long ago
Now my consolation
Is in the stardust of a song
Beside a garden wall
When stars are bright
You are in my arms
The nigthingale tells his fairy tale
A paradise where roses grew
Though I dream in vain
In my heart it will remain
My stardust melody
The memory a loves refrain