About Beijing time
Beijing gives its name to “Beijing Time” — China Standard Time — the official clock for the whole nation despite its vast east–west span.
The entire People’s Republic keeps a single time zone anchored to Beijing, a deliberate unifying decision made in 1949. That is why a call to Beijing and to Ürümqi is technically the same clock time even though they are thousands of kilometres apart. Golden Week around National Day (October 1) and Chinese New Year cause the largest annual human migrations on Earth, freezing normal business rhythms.