5 ms·

Yes. It's a bit surreal. The farthest western part of China has a time that doesn't at all reflect the reality outside because it's like 4 hours behind what the

Yes. It's a bit surreal. The farthest western part of China has a time that doesn't at all reflect the reality outside because it's like 4 hours behind what the clock shows.

philwelch 6y ago
Europe has similar issues, no? Most of continental Europe switched to Central European Time by 1940 (yes, literally as a result of German occupation in many cases). Spain is in the same time zone as Poland, Hungary, and Serbia. I read once that the Spanish nightlife only starts at midnight. That makes a lot more sense if they are on Germany’s time zone.
- walrus01 6y ago
  I think that is more of a Spanish cultural thing than anything time zone related.
  - dandellion 6y ago
    I spent some time in Germany, people usually had dinner "very early" there, between 19-20. I've also lived in Spain, where dinner is usually "very late" probably around 21. However they both actually felt pretty similar. The sun sets about 1h 20m later in Madrid than Berlin which would indicate that most of the difference is actually explained just by the difference in sunlight and summer days being a bit longer in Spain, I think it's mostly the perception side of what's late and early that's mostly cultural.
- runj__ 6y ago
  I've don't recall ever having worked with people in Spain but certainly with people living in France and Germany. It really is just a number though at the end of the day. Living in Sweden I'd never take a meeting before 9AM unless forced to, especially during winter. If you're in a position where you're scheduling meetings you hopefully have some idea of where the participants are located and try to select a time that works for the most amount of people have woken up or not yet fallen asleep. This will probably become more of an issue with more people working remotely though.
- aphroz 6y ago
  No there are several timezones in Europe, if some countries are in the same timezone it's because Europe is not that big, geographically. Spain was not invaded by Germany and their nightlife probably starts at midnight because they have a nap in the afternoon.
  - philwelch 6y ago
    Spain switched to CET in 1940, supposedly in an attempt by the Franco regime to curry favor with Germany. It was France, the Netherlands, and a few other countries that switched due to German occupation (France used to be on GMT as they also straddle the Prime Meridian). The UK, Ireland, and European countries east of the CET-zone are on different time zones, of course, but CET stretches from Serbia to Spain. That’s not as far as Shanghai to Tibet, but it’s still at least a couple solar hours.
    - aphroz 6y ago
      You are right, but the CET is as wide as EST according to this map: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/World_Time_Zones_Map.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/World_Ti...
      - philwelch 6y ago
        Is it? I think there’s more difference in longitude between the western tip of Western Sahara and the eastern tip of the CAR than between the far ends of Quebec and Ontario. Going by population density CET is probably far more disruptive though. The vast majority of the population that lives in EST is, by longitude, between Detroit and Boston, which is a narrower band than between Madrid and Belgrade.
      - jdmichal 6y ago
        That's a terrible projection to be judging distances with...
vmception 6y ago
East Turkistan: everything was fine until we tried to match India Standard Time

Yes. It's a bit surreal. The farthest western part of China has a time that doesn't at all reflect the reality outside because it's like 4 hours behind what the clock shows.

philwelch 6y ago

Europe has similar issues, no? Most of continental Europe switched to Central European Time by 1940 (yes, literally as a result of German occupation in many cases). Spain is in the same time zone as Poland, Hungary, and Serbia. I read once that the Spanish nightlife only starts at midnight. That makes a lot more sense if they are on Germany’s time zone.

walrus01 6y ago
I think that is more of a Spanish cultural thing than anything time zone related.
- dandellion 6y ago
  I spent some time in Germany, people usually had dinner "very early" there, between 19-20. I've also lived in Spain, where dinner is usually "very late" probably around 21. However they both actually felt pretty similar. The sun sets about 1h 20m later in Madrid than Berlin which would indicate that most of the difference is actually explained just by the difference in sunlight and summer days being a bit longer in Spain, I think it's mostly the perception side of what's late and early that's mostly cultural.
runj__ 6y ago
I've don't recall ever having worked with people in Spain but certainly with people living in France and Germany. It really is just a number though at the end of the day. Living in Sweden I'd never take a meeting before 9AM unless forced to, especially during winter. If you're in a position where you're scheduling meetings you hopefully have some idea of where the participants are located and try to select a time that works for the most amount of people have woken up or not yet fallen asleep. This will probably become more of an issue with more people working remotely though.
aphroz 6y ago
No there are several timezones in Europe, if some countries are in the same timezone it's because Europe is not that big, geographically. Spain was not invaded by Germany and their nightlife probably starts at midnight because they have a nap in the afternoon.
- philwelch 6y ago
  Spain switched to CET in 1940, supposedly in an attempt by the Franco regime to curry favor with Germany. It was France, the Netherlands, and a few other countries that switched due to German occupation (France used to be on GMT as they also straddle the Prime Meridian). The UK, Ireland, and European countries east of the CET-zone are on different time zones, of course, but CET stretches from Serbia to Spain. That’s not as far as Shanghai to Tibet, but it’s still at least a couple solar hours.
  - aphroz 6y ago
    You are right, but the CET is as wide as EST according to this map: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/World_Time_Zones_Map.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/World_Ti...
    - philwelch 6y ago
      Is it? I think there’s more difference in longitude between the western tip of Western Sahara and the eastern tip of the CAR than between the far ends of Quebec and Ontario. Going by population density CET is probably far more disruptive though. The vast majority of the population that lives in EST is, by longitude, between Detroit and Boston, which is a narrower band than between Madrid and Belgrade.
    - jdmichal 6y ago
      That's a terrible projection to be judging distances with...

vmception 6y ago

East Turkistan: everything was fine until we tried to match India Standard Time