(ECNS) -- Tianya Community, one of China's most influential online forums from the early internet era, resumed access Monday after being offline for more than three years.
It also unveiled a new domain name tianya.net.
Founded in 1999, Tianya had been inaccessible since April 1, 2023, due to unpaid telecommunications IDC fees, according to an official statement released late Sunday.
In February this year, the new Tianya working group mapped out a plan to bring Tianya back online by June 1, 2026. The group said it has secured funding and assembled a professional team to handle data migration, platform optimization and operations.
As of midnight on Monday, Tianya Community began operating under the new domain, initially offering browsing functions for selected featured posts. Full data migration is awaiting regulatory approvals and is expected to be completed within June, the statement added.
Many users reported difficulty accessing the site Monday morning. Tianya said a surge in login traffic caused delays and advised users to try again.
The platform also cautioned that due to its lengthy shutdown and outdated system architecture, as well as complex underlying data structures, more time is needed for restructuring, though this would not pose a fundamental obstacle to the relaunch.
Tianya Community was once one of the most influential websites in China, representing a nostalgic memory for many netizens. Beyond gossip and entertainment, it was also a platform for writers and intellectuals. Novels such as Ghost Blows Out the Light and Those Things in the Ming Dynasty were serialized on Tianya Community.
(By Zhang Dongfang)
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