Working Across Asian Time Zones: Hours, Weekends and Holidays
A practical guide for teams spread across Asia: how time zones line up, the half-hour offsets that catch people out, working weeks that differ, and the holidays that close whole markets.
Short answer
East and South-East Asia sit within a few hours of each other, which makes regional collaboration relatively easy. The difficult spans are East Asia to South Asia, the Gulf and Europe. Watch for India's UTC+5:30 offset, plan around major holidays like Lunar New Year, Golden Week, Diwali and Eid, and remember that some countries' weekends differ.
Key points
- India runs on UTC+5:30 with no daylight saving.
- None of the major Asian economies use daylight saving — but Europe and the US do.
- Lunar New Year and Eid can close markets for a week or more.
- Rotate inconvenient meeting times so the burden is shared.
Teams spread across Asia have a big advantage over transatlantic teams: much of the region shares a working day. But the details — half-hour offsets, different weekends and long national holidays — regularly trip people up.
How the zones line up
| UTC offset | Examples |
|---|---|
| +9 | Tokyo, Seoul |
| +8 | Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Manila |
| +7 | Bangkok, Jakarta, Ho Chi Minh City |
| +6 | Dhaka |
| +5:45 | Kathmandu |
| +5:30 | India, Sri Lanka |
| +5 | Tashkent, Karachi, Almaty |
| +4 | Dubai |
The core East and South-East Asian hubs span only two hours (UTC+7 to +9). Adding India stretches it to three and a half; adding the Gulf to five.
Try combinations in the meeting planner.
Offsets that catch people out
- India, UTC+5:30. A "one-hour" difference with Dubai is actually one and a half.
- Nepal, UTC+5:45. One of the few quarter-hour offsets in the world.
- Daylight saving elsewhere. Asian hubs don't change their clocks, but Europe and North America do — so the gap to London or New York shifts by an hour twice a year.
Working weeks
Most of Asia works Monday to Friday. Some Middle Eastern countries have different weekends, and Friday prayers can affect Friday afternoon availability in Muslim-majority countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh. Ask colleagues rather than assuming.
Holidays that close whole markets
| Holiday | When | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Lunar New Year | Late Jan–Feb (varies) | China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia |
| Golden Week | Late Apr–early May | Japan |
| Songkran | Mid-April | Thailand (also Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia) |
| Eid al-Fitr | Varies yearly | Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Gulf, Central Asia |
| National Day week | Early October | Mainland China |
| Diwali | Oct–Nov (varies) | India, Singapore, Malaysia |
Dates for lunar and Islamic holidays move each year — check the official calendar for the year you're planning.
Habits that make distributed teams work
- Publish everyone's local working hours in the team directory.
- Rotate inconvenient slots so the same people aren't always on late calls.
- Default to asynchronous updates for anything that doesn't need discussion.
- Put holidays in a shared calendar at the start of the year.
- State times with the zone — "15:00 SGT", not just "3pm".
The bottom line
Asia's time zones are friendly for regional teams, but small details — half-hour offsets, moving holidays and differing weekends — cause most scheduling mistakes. A shared calendar and the meeting planner solve most of them.
Questions readers ask
Does any Asian country use daylight saving time?
The major East, South-East and South Asian economies don't use daylight saving. Time differences with Europe and North America therefore change twice a year when those regions switch.
When is it hardest to schedule across Asia?
Around Lunar New Year (late January or February), Golden Week in Japan (late April to early May), China's National Day week in early October, and Eid holidays in Muslim-majority countries, which move each year.
