When it is 09:00 in Los Angeles it is 01:00 in Shanghai in January and 00:00 in July. Shanghai is 16 hours ahead Los Angeles right now — but it is not constant: the difference is 16 hours ahead in January and 15 hours ahead in July. This page gives the live times in both cities, the overlap between their working days, the daylight saving dates that move the difference, and the best meeting windows.
Try the tool: Time Zone Converter — convert any time between Los Angeles and Shanghai, with the offset for the date you pick.
Live times in Los Angeles and Shanghai
The two cities side by side. The January column uses the winter offsets (Los Angeles UTC−08:00, Shanghai UTC+08:00); the July column uses the summer offsets (Los Angeles UTC−07:00, Shanghai UTC+08:00).
| Time in Los Angeles | Shanghai in January | Shanghai in July |
|---|---|---|
| 00:00 | 16:00 | 15:00 |
| 06:00 | 22:00 | 21:00 |
| 09:00 | 01:00 | 00:00 |
| 12:00 | 04:00 | 03:00 |
| 15:00 | 07:00 | 06:00 |
| 17:00 | 09:00 | 08:00 |
| 21:00 | 13:00 | 12:00 |
The world clock shows the current time in both cities live, and the individual city pages — time in Los Angeles and time in Shanghai — explain each city's time zone, offsets and daylight saving in full.
The time difference between Los Angeles and Shanghai
The difference is not constant. In January Shanghai is 16 hours ahead Los Angeles; in July it is 15 hours ahead Los Angeles. The difference changes on Sunday, 8 March 2026 (from 16 hours ahead to 15 hours ahead) and Sunday, 1 November 2026 (from 15 hours ahead to 16 hours ahead) — those are the dates when one of the two cities changes its clocks and the other does not, or when they change on different days. Between those dates the difference is one value; outside them it is the other.
To convert a time, add the difference: 09:00 in Los Angeles is 01:00 in Shanghai in January and 00:00 in July; 17:00 in Los Angeles — the end of the working day — is 09:00 in Shanghai in January and 08:00 in July. To go the other way, subtract it: 09:00 in Shanghai is 17:00 in Los Angeles in January. The time difference calculator does the arithmetic for any date, and the UTC to Shanghai page gives the full conversion table for Shanghai.
Meeting overlap between Los Angeles and Shanghai
The overlap is the hours when both cities are in their working day (09:00–17:00 local time). The table marks the overlapping hours in Los Angeles's working day and shows what time they are in Shanghai.
January
| Los Angeles time | Shanghai time | Both working? |
|---|---|---|
| 09:00 | 01:00 | Yes |
| 10:00 | 02:00 | Yes |
| 11:00 | 03:00 | Yes |
| 12:00 | 04:00 | Yes |
| 13:00 | 05:00 | Yes |
| 14:00 | 06:00 | Yes |
| 15:00 | 07:00 | Yes |
| 16:00 | 08:00 | Yes |
July
| Los Angeles time | Shanghai time | Both working? |
|---|---|---|
| 09:00 | 00:00 | No |
| 10:00 | 01:00 | No |
| 11:00 | 02:00 | No |
| 12:00 | 03:00 | No |
| 13:00 | 04:00 | No |
| 14:00 | 05:00 | No |
| 15:00 | 06:00 | No |
| 16:00 | 07:00 | No |
In January the overlap is 8 hours: 09:00, 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, 13:00, 14:00, 15:00, 16:00 Los Angeles time. In July it is 0 hours: there is no hour when both cities are in their working day. The meeting planner finds the overlap for any two cities and any date, and the meeting time finder finds it for a whole team.
Daylight saving in Los Angeles and Shanghai
Los Angeles observes daylight saving: in 2026 the clocks go forward on 8 March 2026 and back on 1 November 2026, moving the offset from UTC−08:00 to UTC−07:00.
Shanghai does not observe daylight saving, so its offset of UTC+08:00 never changes.
The difference changes on Sunday, 8 March 2026 and Sunday, 1 November 2026 in 2026. On those dates, one city changes its clocks and the other does not — or they change on different days — so the difference moves by an hour. A standing meeting set in one city's local time will land an hour early or late on the other side until the second city catches up. The fix is to set the calendar event in UTC, or to check the overlap again after each change. The individual DST pages — Los Angeles DST 2026 and Shanghai DST 2026 — give the exact dates for each city.
Best meeting windows
The best windows in January are 09:00–17:00 in Los Angeles (01:00–09:00 in Shanghai). These are the hours inside both working days, so nobody is up early or late. It is a short window, so keep the meeting short and send an agenda in advance.
Calling and travel notes
When it is 09:00 in Los Angeles it is 01:00 in Shanghai in January; when it is 12:00 in Los Angeles it is 04:00 in Shanghai; when it is 17:00 in Los Angeles it is 09:00 in Shanghai. The difference is 12 hours or more, so the two cities are on different dates for part of the day: when it is Monday morning in Los Angeles, it is still Sunday in Shanghai if Shanghai is behind, or already Monday evening if it is ahead. Always state the date as well as the time when you schedule across this pair. Scheduling between the Americas and Asia is the hardest case in time-zone work: the difference is 12 hours or more, so one side's working day is the other's night. The only workable approach is to meet at the edge of the day — early morning in Los Angeles and evening in Shanghai, or the reverse — and to keep the meeting short. Rotate the awkward hour week by week, or the same side will always be the one giving up its evening. Record the meeting and share notes, so the side that could not attend can still follow the decision.
Worked conversions
Six conversions, for January (offsets Los Angeles UTC−08:00, Shanghai UTC+08:00):
| Los Angeles | Shanghai |
|---|---|
| 08:00 | 00:00 |
| 09:00 | 01:00 |
| 12:00 | 04:00 |
| 14:00 | 06:00 |
| 17:00 | 09:00 |
| 20:00 | 12:00 |
In July, add 1 hour to each Shanghai time. For the reverse direction, see Shanghai to Los Angeles time.
Los Angeles and Shanghai at a glance
| Fact | Los Angeles | Shanghai |
|---|---|---|
| Country | United States | China |
| Region | Americas | Asia |
| IANA time zone | America/Los_Angeles |
Asia/Shanghai |
| Standard offset | UTC−08:00 | UTC+08:00 |
| Daylight saving offset | UTC−07:00 | — does not observe |
| Offset in January 2026 | UTC−08:00 | UTC+08:00 |
| Offset in July 2026 | UTC−07:00 | UTC+08:00 |
| Observes daylight saving | Yes | No |
The table is the whole pair in one place. The two numbers that matter most are the January and July offsets: if they are the same in both columns for a city, that city's offset never changes; if they differ, the city observes daylight saving and the difference between the cities moves with it. The individual city pages — time in Los Angeles and time in Shanghai — explain each city's time zone, and the DST pages — Los Angeles DST 2026 and Shanghai DST 2026 — give the exact change dates.
Frequently asked questions
What is the time difference between Los Angeles and Shanghai?
Shanghai is 16 hours ahead Los Angeles right now. In January the difference is 16 hours ahead and in July it is 15 hours ahead — it changes with daylight saving.
How do I schedule a recurring meeting between Los Angeles and Shanghai?
Pick a time inside the overlap — 09:00–17:00 Los Angeles time — and set the calendar event in UTC so it moves correctly when the clocks change. Re-check the overlap in March and October, when the difference moves, and rotate the time if the meeting falls outside someone's working day.
What time is it in Shanghai when it is 09:00 in Los Angeles?
It is 01:00 in January and 00:00 in July. The time zone converter gives the answer for any date.
What is the best time for a meeting between Los Angeles and Shanghai?
The best windows in January are 09:00–17:00 Los Angeles time — inside both working days.
Does the time difference between Los Angeles and Shanghai change during the year?
Yes. It changes on Sunday, 8 March 2026 and Sunday, 1 November 2026 in 2026, when one city changes its clocks and the other does not.
What time is it in Los Angeles when it is 09:00 in Shanghai?
It is 17:00 in January and 18:00 in July. See Shanghai to Los Angeles time for the full comparison from Shanghai's side.
What are the time zones of Los Angeles and Shanghai?
Los Angeles is in America/Los_Angeles (UTC−08:00 standard time) and Shanghai is in Asia/Shanghai (UTC+08:00 standard time).
What time is it in Los Angeles when it is midnight in Shanghai?
It is 08:00 in Los Angeles in January and 09:00 in July — the same day, because Los Angeles is ahead of Shanghai. Midnight conversions are the ones that most often land on the wrong date, so always check the date as well as the time.
Sources
- IANA Time Zone Database, via Node.js Intl (
Intl.DateTimeFormatwithtimeZone) — offsets, daylight saving dates and local times in this article were worked out from the IANA database, not typed from memory. - TimeFlow's own time-zone data (
data/cities.ts,data/dst.ts), computed from the IANA database. - TimeFlow's time zone converter and meeting planner — the live tools behind the numbers on this page.
- Time-zone and daylight saving rules are set by governments and can change. For flights, deadlines and meetings that cannot move, confirm the time with an official source.