Culture Shock! China - A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette, 2nd Edition

242 CultureShock! China

Official Name

People’s Republic of China

Capital

Beijing

Flag

Red with a large yellow five-pointed star and four smaller

yellow five-pointed stars (arranged in a vertical arc toward

the middle of the flag) in the upper left-hand corner

Time Difference

Greenwich Mean Time plus 8 hours (GMT + 0800). There is

one official time zone in the country, although for practical

purposes, Xinjiang runs on an unofficial time two hours

behind Beijing time. In Xinajiang, all government services

run on Beijing time, while other business operate according

to local time.

Telephone Country Code for China

86

Climate

Covering 9.5 million sq km (5.9 million sq miles), China is the

third largest country in the world, behind Russia and Canada.

With geography that ranges from the Gobi Desert to Mount