Tianya, once China’s most freewheeling social media site, might be dead

It was once the most talked about website on the Chinese internet, where scandals broke and controversies started. Tianya (天涯社区 tiānyá shèqū), known for hosting a noisy community of users interested in social and political topics, has been out of service for nearly a month with no sign of an imminent return.

Although the website’s owner, Tianya Community Network Technology Co., hasn’t confirmed its fate, heartbroken fans have already begun sharing earnest messages on Chinese social media, reminiscing about its golden days and mourning the potential loss of what many described as their entry point into the online world.

Rumors about Tianya’s shutdown emerged earlier this month when a sudden announcement appeared on the website, saying that “a technical upgrade and data restructuring” would cause the site to go dark for a period of time. Since then, there has been no update on when or whether Tianyan will resume operation.

Established in 1999, Tianya used to be the most popular online forum among the first generation of Chinese internet users, who now are mostly in their 30s, 40s, and 50s. It was once the world’s largest bulletin board, boasting 40 million page visits daily and 130 million registered users.

According to Chinese media reports, Tianya has been struggling to make money for a while. While the company has been selling non-essential assets and reducing workforce to avoid bankruptcy, it still owes more than 10 million yuan ($1.4 million) to the website’s server supplier, China Telecom.

About six months ago, Tianya experienced a similar outage as news came out that its founder, Xíng Míng 邢明, had been barred from making expensive purchases and taking flights due to the debt. The portal managed to survive, but a former executive at Tianya told local media that the website might not be able to withstand the ongoing disruption of service.

On Weibo, the hashtag “Tianya has been inaccessible” (天涯社区官网已无法打开 tiānyá shèqū guānwǎng yǐ wúfǎ dǎkāi) has garnered over 10 million views as of today, with many describing the portal’s demise as “the end of an era” while reminiscing about the memories they made on the website.

“Can each of us who cares about it donate one yuan to keep it alive?” a disheartened fan asked on Weibo, while another person wrote, “I used to keep a daily journal on Tianya for seven years, documenting my life from the first year of graduate school to the end of my first job. Although I haven’t logged in for more than 10 years, I still have this feeling that everything will be there forever.”

Built on a bulletin board system with one purpose — essentially, to let people share their opinions freely — Tianya in its heyday was the favored platform for a diverse community of intellectuals, creatives, and average Chinese internet users. It was a key fixture during the golden age of the Chinese internet, when much of what is now considered “sensitive” — such as pressing social issues and politics — could be discussed freely.

Some of the classic posts in Tianya’s history include one by a Tsinghua University student after the poisoning of his classmate, Zhū Lìng 朱令; his passionate appeal for justice ignited a nationwide debate. In 2008, when intimate photos leaked of Hong Kong actor/singer Edison Chen (陈冠希 Chén Guànxī), a discussion string about the sex scandal attracted nearly 26 million page views on Tianya, with users frantically trying to identify the women involved.

Many of China’s early online personalities gained their fame on Tianya. Luó Yùfèng 罗玉凤, better known as Sister Feng (凤姐 fèngjiě), became one of the earliest internet stars in China after posting a marriage proposal on Tinaya that was widely ridiculed. Zhāng Zétiān 章泽天, the wife of JD.com founder Liú Qiángdōng 刘强东, was given the nickname Sister Milk Tea (奶茶妹妹 nǎichá mèimèi) after a Tianya user shared a photo of her. A slew of best-selling Chinese authors were writing and cultivating followers on Tianya before landing book deals, such as Shí Yuè 石悅, author of Stories About the Ming Dynasty (明朝那些事儿 míng cháo nàxiē shì er), and Kǒng Xiángzhào 孔祥照, whose fantasy novel series Ghost Blows Out the Light (鬼吹灯 guǐ chuīdēng) has been adapted into films and TV series.

Before the suspension, the most active boards on Tianya were “Entertainment and Gossip” (娱乐八卦 yúlè bāguà), which covered social topics well beyond its name, and “World of Feelings” (情感天地 qínggǎn tiāndì), where one could read about relationships. Honorable mentions include “Global Observation” (国际观察 guójì guānchá) for international politics, “Lotus Ghost Words” (莲蓬鬼话 liánpeng guǐhuà) for spooky stories, and “Guantian Teahouse” (关天茶社 guān tiān cháshè) for academic and literary discussions.

For the LGBTQ community, a discussion board on Tianya called “Being your company along the way” (路同行 lù tóngxíng), which was shuttered in 2017 due to what its administrator described as “external factors,” was one of the rare places online where people could share personal stories, publish gay literature, seek romance, and discuss issues they were concerned about. Among the most-discussed topics during the early stage of the board was a republication of Their World: A Study of Homosexuality in China, a book co-authored by the country’s best-known sociologist, Lǐ Yínhé 李银河, and her husband, Wáng Xiǎobō 王小波, who is also one of the pioneers in China when it comes to topics such as sadomasochism and gay rights.

Tianya was also once a key piece in Google’s efforts to build a foothold in the world’s largest internet market. In 2007, the global search giant acquired a stake in Tianya, with the percentage rumored to be as high as 60%. But the deal ended three years later when Google folded its operations in the country after a censorship row with the Chinese government. As a result, Tianya pulled the plug on two web products it co-developed with its foreign partner and repurchased its shares from the American company.

In recent years, the portal has gradually faded into obscurity as the Chinese social media landscape changed drastically, introducing platforms like WeChat, Weibo, and Douyin into Chinese internet users’ daily routine. But even if it disappears, its place in Chinese internet history won’t be forgotten.