The whole of China is ticking like Beijing

the start of School to 10:30 p.m., in the West, sunset is at 15:00 in the East. The giant country of China has only one time zone, for historical reasons and for people in everyday life.

Steffen root, ARD Studio in Shanghai

Shortly after midnight, on a Food market in the town of Xishuangbanna, in southwest China. Along a small street vendor meat skewers, and grilled vegetables to sell. Around cheerful people sit on stools on colorful Plastic and drink beer. Tomorrow is a working day, but this makes the people here in the southern tip of the Chinese province of Yunnan, quite obviously, nothing.

"We are here with our Stand in the evening and at night," says a saleswoman. "My husband and I make very late in the evening to 4:00 in the morning. Often, we are only at lunch. The people here love the night life."

"We lead here, of course, a completely different life,"

What is also due to the fact that it is here compared to other parts of the country of China in the evening, relatively late, dark and cold. Purely geographically, Yunnan and other parts of the West should be of China is actually in a completely different time zone than the East of the country. "At the top, in the North-East of China, it is the other way around: In Winter, it is already three o'clock in the Afternoon dark. We lead here, of course, a completely different life," says the seller.

Only a few kilometers away from the night market in China's Xishuangbanna and Myanmar. In the neighbouring country, it is an hour and a half earlier, India is not far away, there is a difference of even two and a half hours.

Xinjiang in Western China. Because of the time zone problem school starts here until 10:30.

at at a stroke, to three and a half hours

reset A time for the whole country - as is the rule in China. Not only in Beijing, but also in the thousands of miles to the West Chinese regions such as Yunnan, Tibet and Xinjiang. The time zone issue is particularly striking: the crossing of Xinjiang, the country's border into the neighbouring country of Afghanistan, must set back his watch by three and a half hours. So, you see: China, the West actually deserves its own time zone.

"In our school, we made ourselves always according to the official Beijing time," recalls Xu Jianling, who now lives in Shanghai, but in Xinjiang, went to school. "Actually, we had always two times in the head: the start of School for us was always 10:30 PM Beijing time. Among us, we spoke but by 8:30 PM real time. Not only are students in Xinjiang, but also workers and employees."

symbolically important for the government

the giant country of China has only one time zone, has historical reasons: "in the past, during the cultural revolution in the 1960s and 1970s, had been in China, hardly anyone has a watch," said Zhang Hong, a sociologist at Shanghai's Tongji University.

"the Radio said the time was crucial. And this sentence: 'So-and-So much at Beijing time' - this was a symbolically very important for the centralised omnipotence claim of the state and party leadership. No matter whether in the East, West, South or North: All of China is ticking like Beijing."

The whole country ticking like Beijing: China has just}a time zone
Steffen root, ARD Shanghai
30.03.2019 10:51 PM

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