Hour-by-hour overlap

Each row is one hour of the San Francisco day and the matching hour in Shanghai. Adjust the working hours to match how your team actually works.

Day starts

Day ends

San Francisco	Shanghai	Suitable?
12am	3pm	Working hours in Shanghai only
1am	4pm	Working hours in Shanghai only
2am	5pm	Working hours in Shanghai only
9am	12am	Working hours in San Francisco only
10am	1am	Working hours in San Francisco only
11am	2am	Working hours in San Francisco only
12pm	3am	Working hours in San Francisco only
1pm	4am	Working hours in San Francisco only
2pm	5am	Working hours in San Francisco only
3pm	6am	Working hours in San Francisco only
4pm	7am	Working hours in San Francisco only
5pm	8am	Working hours in San Francisco only
6pm	9am	Working hours in Shanghai only
7pm	10am	Working hours in Shanghai only
8pm	11am	Working hours in Shanghai only
9pm	12pm	Working hours in Shanghai only
10pm	1pm	Working hours in Shanghai only
11pm	2pm	Working hours in Shanghai only

When the gap changes in the next twelve months

Sunday, November 1, 2026 — Shanghai goes from 15 hours ahead of to 16 hours ahead of San Francisco.

Sunday, March 14, 2027 — Shanghai goes from 16 hours ahead of to 15 hours ahead of San Francisco.

Recurring meetings set as a fixed clock time in one city will move by an hour for the other on these dates.

Public holidays to avoid

Dates where one side is off work while the other is not are the most common cause of no-shows on this route.

Friday, September 25, 2026 — Mid-Autumn Festival — Shanghai is off, San Francisco is working.

Thursday, October 1, 2026 — National Day — Shanghai is off, San Francisco is working.

Monday, October 12, 2026 — Indigenous Peoples' Day — San Francisco is off, Shanghai is working.

Wednesday, November 11, 2026 — Veterans Day — San Francisco is off, Shanghai is working.

Thursday, November 26, 2026 — Thanksgiving Day — San Francisco is off, Shanghai is working.

Friday, December 25, 2026 — Christmas Day — San Francisco is off, Shanghai is working.

San Francisco and Shanghai have no shared working hours, so a recurring live meeting always costs someone their morning or their evening. Rotating the burden, or moving the update to written form, is usually the better answer.

Sending a booking link avoids the arithmetic entirely: each side picks a time in their own zone and both calendars get the correct local time, including after a daylight-saving change. See how LemCall handles cross-timezone bookings.

Frequently asked questions

What is the time difference between San Francisco and Shanghai?

Shanghai is currently 15 hours ahead of San Francisco. That changes to 16 hours ahead of on Sunday, November 1, 2026, when one side shifts for daylight saving.

When is the best time to schedule a meeting between San Francisco and Shanghai?

There is no hour where both cities are inside normal working hours, so one side has to take the call early or late.

How many hours do San Francisco and Shanghai overlap?

Zero, on a standard 9–18 working day in each city.

Does daylight saving change the San Francisco–Shanghai gap?

Yes. Over the next twelve months the difference changes 2 times: Sunday, November 1, 2026 (15 hours ahead of becomes 16 hours ahead of); Sunday, March 14, 2027 (16 hours ahead of becomes 15 hours ahead of).

Are there public holidays that affect San Francisco–Shanghai meetings?

Yes. The next is Friday, September 25, 2026 — a public holiday where Shanghai is, but a normal working day in San Francisco.

San Francisco to Shanghai: time difference and best times to meet

Hour-by-hour overlap

When the gap changes in the next twelve months

Public holidays to avoid

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Hour-by-hour overlap

When the gap changes in the next twelve months

Public holidays to avoid

Frequently asked questions

Other meeting-time pages for San Francisco

Sources