Time difference between San Francisco and Shanghai
San Francisco PDT · UTC-7 
Shanghai GMT+8 · UTC+8 Best time to call
Hours shown in San Francisco time. The two working days never overlap: when San Francisco is at its desk, Shanghai is asleep. Schedule at the edge of one side's day.
Hour-by-hour conversion
| San Francisco (PDT) | Shanghai (GMT+8) | Call quality |
|---|---|---|
| 12:00 AM | 3:00 PM | Off hours |
| 1:00 AM | 4:00 PM | Off hours |
| 2:00 AM | 5:00 PM | Off hours |
| 3:00 AM | 6:00 PM | Off hours |
| 4:00 AM | 7:00 PM | Off hours |
| 5:00 AM | 8:00 PM | Off hours |
| 6:00 AM | 9:00 PM | Off hours |
| 7:00 AM | 10:00 PM | Off hours |
| 8:00 AM | 11:00 PM | Off hours |
| 9:00 AM | 12:00 AM+1 day | Off hours |
| 10:00 AM | 1:00 AM+1 day | Off hours |
| 11:00 AM | 2:00 AM+1 day | Off hours |
| 12:00 PM | 3:00 AM+1 day | Off hours |
| 1:00 PM | 4:00 AM+1 day | Off hours |
| 2:00 PM | 5:00 AM+1 day | Off hours |
| 3:00 PM | 6:00 AM+1 day | Off hours |
| 4:00 PM | 7:00 AM+1 day | OK |
| 5:00 PM | 8:00 AM+1 day | OK |
| 6:00 PM | 9:00 AM+1 day | OK |
| 7:00 PM | 10:00 AM+1 day | OK |
| 8:00 PM | 11:00 AM+1 day | OK |
| 9:00 PM | 12:00 PM+1 day | OK |
| 10:00 PM | 1:00 PM+1 day | Off hours |
| 11:00 PM | 2:00 PM+1 day | Off hours |
Daylight saving time note
San Francisco and Shanghai do not change their clocks on the same date. Between November 1, 2026 and March 14, 2027 the difference is 16 hours behind Shanghai — because San Francisco changes its clocks for daylight saving time while Shanghai keeps the same time all year.
For the rest of the year the difference holds steady at 15 hours. Every time on this page is computed from the IANA database at the moment you load it, so the tables above already account for whichever side has switched.
Why the time difference exists
San Francisco uses UTC-8 as its standard offset and Shanghai uses UTC+8. San Francisco moves its clocks for daylight saving time while Shanghai keeps the same time all year, so the gap widens and narrows by an hour with the seasons. Geographically the two lie about 9,900 km apart, with Shanghai to the northwest of San Francisco.
Flying from San Francisco to Shanghai, your body clock shifts about 8 hours back. In flying terms that's roughly 12½ hours in the air, give or take. A quick look at each side's working hours keeps meetings out of the middle of the night.
