Keeping odd hours across China's single time zone

New York

SOME days, the sun does not come up until 10am or later. People eat lunch after 2pm, or even after 4pm if they are not in a rush. The school day stretches so late that children cannot get home in time to catch their favourite cartoon shows.

Why are the clocks in Urumqi, China, so far out of kilter with the cycles of the sun? Because of a legacy of Mao Zedong and the Communist Party's desire for unified control. Although China is almost as wide as the continental United States, the whole country is officially in just one time zone - Beijing time.