Is the Calendar a Reason Why China has Only One Time Zone?
If you google the question, “Why does China have only one time zone?”, you’ll get a response to the effect that it promotes national unity and centralized administration while preventing regional confusion and standardizing work and broadcast schedules.
We would like to suggest another reason: The calendar.
The Chinese calendar is geo-specific. In other words, it matters where on earth you are, and in particular what time zone you’re in.
The first day of each month in the Chinese calendar is, by definition, the day of the new moon. For example, in 2007 the new moon fell on February 18 at 14 minutes after midnight, Beijing time. As a result, the date of Chinese New Year was February 18.
In Vietnam, Tet, the new year, is calculated according to the same calendrical rules. But since Vietnam’s clocks are an hour behind China, the new moon fell on February 17 at 11:14pm and Tet was observed one day earlier on the 17th.
And therein lies a reason for China to have a single time zone—doing otherwise would mean that in certain years the new year would start on different days in different parts of the country. Presumably, an undesirable outcome.
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