Why does date get time different from machine time? Solution Ideas

Why does date get time different from machine time?
I want to use date () to get the current time compared to the value of a datetime type in the database. I used the echo date (' y-m-d h:m:s ') to get it was 2012-04-04 07:04:20
But now my machine time is 2012-04-04 19:47:20, do not know why not the same?
How do I compare two times, do I need to convert to seconds to compare?

My view of the time in PHP.ini is set as follows:
; Default timestamp format.
Ibase.timestampformat = "%y-%m-%d%h:%m:%s"

; Default date format.
Ibase.dateformat = "%y-%m-%d"

; Default time format.
Ibase.timeformat = "%h:%m:%s"

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The landlord is using the United States server? Time zone is different.
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Time zone issues, modifying php.ini Date.timezone = "Asia/shanghai"
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In addition to setting the time zone, the difference between 8 hour minutes is not m OH
echo Date (' y-m-d h:m:s ')

echo Date (' y-m-d h:i:s ')

Go through the manual.
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Note the difference between H H

And the M-I handbook is the best.
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PHP Code

Date_default_timezone_set (' PRC ');
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Sorry, I didn't take a careful look at it and answered it. #4的答案才是正确的
As for comparisons, in MySQL, datetime types can be compared by comparing strings.
For example  where ' 2012-3-3 13:34:34 ' > ' time '
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