Xinjiang Time

Xinjiang Time has been abolished and re-established multiple times, particularly during the 1970s and 1980s. In February 1986, the Chinese government approved the use of Xinjiang Time (UTC+06:00) in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (thus excluding area colonized by Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps) for civil purposes, while military, railroad, aviation, and telecommunication sectors were supposed to continue using Beijing Time (UTC+08:00).{{cite web|url=http://www.pep.com.cn/200503/ca692073.htm|title=法定时与北京时间|publisher=人民教育出版社|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061114120456/http://www.pep.com.cn/200503/ca692073.htm|archive-date=14 November 2006}}{{cite journal |last=GUO |first= Qing-sheng|date= 2001|title= 中国标准时制考|trans-title= A Study on the Standard Time Changes for the Past 100 Years in China|url= http://sourcedb.cas.cn/sourcedb_scr_cas/zwqkk/kxwhzl/kxjss/jxdkjs/200912/P020091229393382424589.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220074304/http://sourcedb.cas.cn/sourcedb_scr_cas/zwqkk/kxwhzl/kxjss/jxdkjs/200912/P020091229393382424589.pdf|archive-date=2016-12-20|url-status=dead|language= zh-cn|journal= China Historical Materials of Science and Technology|volume= 22|issue= 3|pages= 269–280|id= 1000-0798(2001)03-0269-12|access-date=9 December 2016}}[http://sourcedb.cas.cn/sourcedb_scr_cas/zwqkk/kxwhzl/kxjss/jxdkjs/200912/P020091229393382424589.pdf 中国标准时制考] However, the decision was rejected by the local ethnic Han population and some Han-dominated regional governments.{{cite book |author=王力雄|title= 我的西域，你的東土：沒有人曾經，或可能如此解讀新疆與維吾爾人 |publisher= 大塊出版 |year= 2007 |isbn= 9789862130117 }}

File:Map of China Xinjiang.svg

The choice of time zone used in Xinjiang is roughly split along the ethnic divide, with most of the Han population observing Beijing Time, and most of the Uyghur population and some other ethnic groups following Xinjiang Time.{{cite news|url=https://read01.com/0ANPm.html|title=【讀書時間】在時間的悟透里跋涉或存在}} Accordingly, the Xinjiang Television network schedules its Chinese channel according to Beijing Time and its Uyghur and Kazakh channels according to Xinjiang Time.{{cite web|author=小康|url=http://www.tf086.com/h-nd-246.html|title=北京时间的概念|publisher=西安同步电子科技有限公司}} In some areas, local authorities use both time standards side by side.{{cite web|first=Ruth|last=Ingram|date=September 2013|url=http://www.ethnotraveler.com/2013/09/bending-time-in-xinjiang/|title=Bending Time in Xinjiang}}{{cite web|author=adilniyaz|date=2008-08-26|url=http://www.xjlt.gov.cn/Item/3426.aspx|archive-url=https://archive.today/20141012235636/http://www.xjlt.gov.cn/Item/3426.aspx|archive-date=12 October 2014|title=作息时间}}

The coexistence of two time zones within the same region causes some confusion among the local population, especially when members of multiple ethnic groups want to communicate with each other: whenever a time is mentioned, it is necessary to explicitly state whether the time is Xinjiang Time or Beijing Time, or to convert the time according to the ethnicity of the target audience.{{cite web|author=赫海威|url=http://cn.nytimes.com/china/20160617/china-single-time-zone/|title=10点日出，半夜吃饭，在新疆用北京时间的烦恼|date=17 June 2016|work=New York Times}}{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221154359/http://www.southcn.com/weekend/city/200309250028.htm|archive-date=2016-12-21 |date=2003-09-25 |author=南香红 |url=http://www.southcn.com/weekend/city/200309250028.htm|title=【城市】乌鲁木齐：没有屋顶的博物馆|publisher=南方周末}}{{cite web|first=Barbara|last=Demick|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-mar-31-fg-china-timezone31-story.html|title=Clocks square off in China's far west|date=31 March 2009|work=Los Angeles Times}} Additionally, some ethnic Han in Xinjiang might not be aware of the existence of Xinjiang Time because of the language barrier.Luther Ma's note in IANA time zone database file

Xinjiang residents who use Beijing Time typically schedule their activities two hours after the usual time that those activities would be performed in Eastern China in order to match the sunrise and sunset times. For example, if everyone in Beijing wakes up when the sun rises at 8:00 AM Beijing Time, then Xinjiang residents would plan to wake up at 10:00 AM Beijing Time, because this is when the sunrise would occur in Xinjiang. This is known in Xinjiang as the Xinjiang work/rest time.{{cite web|date=2014-01-17 |url=http://news.163.com/14/0117/18/9IQH4FIR00014JB6.html?f=jsearch|title=政协委员建议：调整新疆单位作息时间|publisher=网易新闻中心}}

In 2014, Apple Inc. released an update to its iOS mobile operating system that silently changed the default time for users in Xinjiang to Xinjiang Time. This change caused alarms that had been set using Beijing Time to ring two hours later than expected, resulting in a disruption of daily activities on the day after the change was released.{{cite web|author=盖煜|date=2014-09-26|url=http://news.ifeng.com/a/20140926/42093003_0.shtml|title=乌鲁木齐市民反映:苹果系统升级后自动选择新疆时区|publisher=凤凰资讯}}

In 2018, according to Human Rights Watch, a Uyghur man was arrested and sent to a detention center because he set his watch to Xinjiang Time.{{cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/uighur-man-detained-setting-watch-differently-beijing-human-rights-watch-2018-9|title=China reportedly detained a man on terrorist charges because he set his watch 2 hours behind Beijing time|author=Alexandra Ma|date=September 9, 2018|website=Business Insider}}{{cite web

|url=https://www.hrw.org/report/2018/09/09/eradicating-ideological-viruses/chinas-campaign-repression-against-xinjiangs

|date=September 9, 2018

|work=Human Rights Watch

|title="Eradicating Ideological Viruses" China's Campaign of Repression Against Xinjiang's Muslims

|quote=I know of a guy … who was taken away for having set his watch to [the unofficial] Urumqi time – they say that’s what makes him suspicious for terrorism.

|language=en

|access-date=February 24, 2023

|url-status=live

|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230223164713/https://www.hrw.org/report/2018/09/09/eradicating-ideological-viruses/chinas-campaign-repression-against-xinjiangs%23_ftn75

|archive-date=February 23, 2023

}}

The territory using Xinjiang Time is covered in the IANA time zone database by the following zones.

Columns marked with * are from the zone.tab file of the database.

• Time in China
• Historical time zones of China

{{Reflist}}

*

Category:Time zones