Xinjiang Time
The Xinjiang Time (Chinese: 新疆时间), or known as Ürümqi Time (Chinese: 乌鲁木齐时间; pinyin: Wūlǔmùqí Shíjiān), is set due to its geographical location in the westernmost part of the country.[1] The time offset is UTC+06:00 which is two hours behind Beijing, and is shared with Kazakhstan. It is one of the two time standards, together with Beijing Time, being used parallelly in Xinjiang, China.[2][3]
History
Xinjiang time have been abolished and re-established multiple times in the history, especially during the 1970s-1980s period. In 1986 February, Chinese government had approved the use of Xinjiang time (UTC+6) in Xinjiang for civil purposes, while railroad, aviation and telecommunication sectors are announced to be continue their operation in Beijing time.[4][3] However, the decision have been rejected by local ethnic Han population and some Han-dominated regional government.[5]
Usage
Currently, the timezone usage within Xinjiang roughly split along the ethnicity divide, with most ethnic Han population in the area follow the Beijing time and most ethnic Uyghur population in the area follow the Ürümqi Time.[6] Some local authorities are now using both time standard side by side.[7][8] The coexistence of two timezones within same region caused some confusion among local population especially when inter-racial communication occur, and whenever a time is mentioned, it is necessary to either explicitly make clear whether the time is Xinjiang Time or Beijing Time, or convert the time according to ethnicity of the target you are speaking to, in order to avoid the confusion between the two time standard.[9][10][11] The double time standard is particularly observable in Xinjiang Television, which schedule its Chinese channel according to Beijing time and its Uyghur and Kazakh channels according to Xinjiang time. [12]
In 2014, Apple Inc. released an update to its iOS mobile operating system, which silently changed the default time for users in Xinjiang into Ürümqi Time. As some users in the area were using Beijing Time in their iOS before the update and set the alarm of their phones and tablets according to Beijing time, the silent change have caused some alarm to ring at a time later than expected, causing disruption in daily activity on the day after.[13]
IANA time zone database
The territory utilizing the Xinjiang Time is covered in the IANA time zone database by the following zones.
Columns marked with * are from the file zone.tab of the database.
| c.c.* | coordinates* | TZ* | comments* | Standard time | Summer time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN | +4348+08735 | Asia/Urumqi | Xinjiang Time | UTC+08:00 | — | Historical Sinkiang-Tibet time zone |
| CN | Asia/Kashgar | UTC+08:00 | — | Historical Kunlun time zone |
See also
References
- ^ http://www.xjxnw.gov.cn/zx/qxfw/qxzs/xjqxsc/02/434015.shtml
- ^ "冷知识："北京时间"的由来". 新华网. 2015-11-03. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
- ^ a b GUO, Qing-sheng (2001). "中国标准时制考" [A Study on the Standard Time Changes for the Past 100 Years in China] (PDF). China Historical Materials of Science and Technology (in Chinese (China)). 22 (3): 269–280. 1000-0798(2001)03-0269-12. Retrieved 2016-12-09.中国标准时制考
- ^ 法定时与北京时间，人民教育出版社，Archived 2006-11-14 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ 王力雄 (2007). 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. 大塊出版. ISBN 9789862130117.
- ^ "【讀書時間】在時間的悟透里跋涉或存在".
- ^ "Bending Time in Xinjiang".
- ^ "作息时间". Archived from the original on 12 Oct 2014.
- ^ "10点日出，半夜吃饭，在新疆用北京时间的烦恼". 纽约时报中文网国际纵览. 17 June 2016.
- ^ "【城市】乌鲁木齐：没有屋顶的博物馆". 南方周末.
- ^ "Clocks square off in China's far west". Los Angeles Times. 31 March 2009.
- ^ 北京时间的概念
- ^ "乌鲁木齐市民反映:苹果系统升级后自动选择新疆时区". 凤凰资讯.
