Taipei, Taiwan · UTC+8 ☆

Taipei sits in a basin in northern Taiwan, ringed by mountains. It runs on National Standard Time (UTC+8) all year, the fixed offset Taiwan has maintained since suspending daylight saving time in 1979.

The city’s relationship with time is partly defined by its night markets. Shilin, Raohe, Ningxia, and the others don’t really start until 6pm and peak between 8 and 11pm. Taipei’s evening economy is as serious as its daytime one. The MRT runs until midnight. Hot pot restaurants fill at 10pm. The concept of “too late” takes some recalibration for visitors from cities where everything closes by 9.

night markets and late-night city

At 25 degrees north, Taipei has moderate seasonal light variation. Summer evenings carry light past 7pm. Winter afternoons close by 5:30pm. The fixed UTC+8 means these shifts happen against a consistent clock background.

Taiwan’s IANA timezone identifier is Asia/Taipei, distinct from China’s Asia/Shanghai even though both are UTC+8. The political distinction matters for historical records: Taiwan observed DST at different times than mainland China, and the transition dates in their respective histories differ.

The 1999 Jiji earthquake, a magnitude 7.6 event that struck at 1:47am on September 21, is one of the defining moments in Taiwan’s recent history. The timestamp is precise in the way that disaster timestamps always are.

Taichung in central Taiwan shares the same National Standard Time.

9am in Taipei is 1am in London in winter, 2am during British Summer Time.

Sources

• IANA Time Zone Database
• Taipei City Government