History
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. A summer time was observed in 1919 in Tianjin and Shanghai, and parts of China from 1935 to 1962.
After the Chinese Civil War in 1949, the People's Republic of China established one single time zone (UTC+8) for the entirety of its claimed territories, while the Republic of China continued to place the remaining territories of Taiwan under the UTC+8 time zone. Although the two had different policies, they were all placed under the same time zone.
Until 1997, Hong Kong and 1999, Macau had, respectively, been colonies of the United Kingdom and Portugal. Despite being part of the People's Republic of China today, as special administrative regions they have retained their own policies regarding time zones over the respective regions. Due to their geographical locations, both are within the GMT/UTC+8 time zone.
Read more about this topic: Time In China
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