Jet lag causes fatigue and insomnia for cross-border travelers, so basic knowledge about the time zone of China and tips of how to minimize jet lag will be useful for you China tour.
China covers five time zones, but Beijing Time is the only standard time throughout the country. Beijing Time refers to the time of UTC +8, which is calculated by the National Time Service Center (NTSC), in Lintong district, Xian, Shaanxi Province. Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan also adopt the UTC+8 time, so there is no time difference between these areas and mainland China. Xinjiang Province is located in the western border of the country, and though they adopt the standard time, business hours in Xinjiang are 2 to 3 hours later than the that in other regions. For a current local time, please refer to the World Clock.
Time Differences between Beijing and Other Countries ('+' means the time is earlier than Beijing Time; '-' means the time is later than Beijing Time):
|
Country/City
|
Time Difference (hour)
|
Country/City
|
Time Difference (hour)
|
|
Hawaii, US
|
-18
|
Greece
|
-6
|
|
Los Angeles, US
|
-16
|
Moscow, Russia
|
-5
|
|
Huston, US
|
-14
|
Egypt
|
-6
|
|
Washington, US
|
-13
|
South Africa
|
-6
|
|
Vancouver, Canada
|
-16
|
New Zealand
|
+4
|
|
Ottawa, Canada
|
-13
|
Australia
|
+2
|
|
Mexico
|
-14
|
South Korea
|
+1
|
|
Brazil
|
-11
|
Japan
|
+1
|
|
UK
|
-8
|
Thailand
|
-1
|
|
France
|
-7
|
India
|
-2:30
|
|
Italy
|
-7
|
Singapore
|
0
|
|
Switzerland
|
-7
|
Malaysia
|
0
|
|
Germany
|
-7
|
Philippines
|
0
|
When traveling across borders, you may suffer from fatigue, insomnia, and also loss of appetite and sense of direction in the first few days. Research shows that about 81% of travelers have sleeping problems due to time difference, but only 11% try to remit jet lag by doing simple exercises and changing the light, and 67% do not know how to deal with it.
Hereunder are some tips for you to prevent and ease the uncomfortableness caused by jet lag: 1. If the time difference is over 4 hours, you are suggested to readjust your daily schedule 3 or 4 days before your departure. You can sleep 1 or 2 hours earlier in the first two days, and gradually increase to 3 to 4 hours.
2. Drink a large amount of water in the airplane; alcoholic beverage causes dehydration, which will make you feel worse;
3. Wear comfortable and loose clothes;
4. Walk around in the cabin and stretch your legs and arms during the flight journey;
5. Once arrived at your destination, you can bask in the sun as much as possible, because light, especially natural daylight, is important to adjust your biological clock. Some outdoor exercise is also helpful.
