Starting from midnight on June 1, the early iconic Chinese internet platform Tianya Community is back online—www.tianya.net is officially accessible again.
Late on the night of May 31, Tianya Community announced its official restart after being dormant for nearly three years, along with an update on the community recovery progress.
According to that update, Tianya Community will first enable browsing of some of its best posts. As data migration approvals and system restructuring continue with security and compliance in mind, the team hopes to gradually restore interactive features by June.
Over the next month, www.tianya.net will keep rolling out updates. Down the road, a brand-new Tianya Community app will be launched. Progress will be shared via official channels, with the next major milestone update on June 10.
The update also included a call for talent: “To rebuild Tianya at a high standard, we sincerely invite experts in tech, development, product design, system operations, and AI. Come help us unlock the unique value of Tianya’s massive content library. Interested? Drop us an email at ([email protected]).”
Unlike previous attempts driven purely by nostalgia, this restart shows a clearer capital strategy and organizational restructuring. Notably, a newly established company in 2024, “Chengdu Tianyake Network Technology Co., Ltd.,” has emerged as the core investment vehicle. This local Chengdu firm is experimenting with a “membership-based crowdfunding” model and business reconstruction.
On May 30, the “Tianya Guest” WeChat account announced the launch of the “Tianya Restarter Digital Badge” and governance rights for founding members. According to an earlier post, the badge will be issued, and a “Tianya Restart Memorial Wall” will permanently record contributions from founding members.
Each badge is priced at 1999 yuan, with a global limited edition of 9,999 badges—once sold out, no more will be minted.
The “Tianya Restarter Digital Badge” is the sole credential for being a “founding member of New Tianya,” permanently tied to community governance privileges. The badge supports compliant transfer; core identity and governance rights transfer along with it, limited to three transfers per year. The badge is minted on the compliant domestic blockchain “Ant Chain,” serving as a digital credential for identity, honor, and commemoration, as well as a digital collectible granting community voting rights and offline travel & lifestyle benefits.
Founding members participating in new Tianya community governance enjoy core rights such as: involvement in drafting and amending community rules (majority vote principle), proposing platform optimization, ecosystem building, and future development ideas, and earning New Tianya interaction points through contributions. They can also become hosts or partners of Tianya Guest social spaces in cities worldwide.
Looking ahead, Tianya Guest’s membership-based e-commerce focuses on “curating global goodies and custom boutique travel.” Founding members holding the badge get first priority to become “Goods Recommenders” and “Goods Marketing Officers” at the Tianya Guest member store. On the supply side, they can recommend global products and quality travel routes, and earn Tianya gold beans through promotion and distribution.
Founding members who hold a specified number of badges and pass qualification review as eligible investors can voluntarily apply to join a special limited partnership managed by Hainan Shiyuan Tongda Private Fund Management Co., Ltd. (a licensed private fund manager) to indirectly invest in New Tianya’s equity and share its long-term value.
All compliant platform security measures are in place. The official side covers gas fees from holding and transferring on the chain.
According to public info, Tianya Community was founded in March 1999. It was once one of the largest and most influential comprehensive Chinese BBS forums and online platforms, known as the “global Chinese online home.” It gained fame for high-quality user-generated content, a vibrant culture, and serialized blockbusters like The Ghost Blows Out the Light and Those Ming Dynasty Things.
Since April 1, 2023, Tianya Community was suspended due to unpaid telecom IDC fees.
According to the earlier update, over the past three years, the Tianya restart team has been tirelessly working to ensure the complete preservation of the billion-user data and community restoration. In February this year, with support from the New Tianya Joint Working Group, the company established a plan to restore access by June 1, 2026. Now, the group has secured the necessary funding, professional team, and preparations for data migration, platform optimization, and access restoration.
Tianya Community and China Telecom have reached a legally binding arbitration ruling through Hainan International Arbitration Court regarding data migration. The historical data is now fully preserved, making the comeback inevitable. Data migration is still awaiting approval; according to the current timeline, full data recovery should be completed by June.
Previously, Tianya had attempted to restart multiple times. For example, in May 2023, former executive editor Song Zheng (online name “Xiaohei”) and some ex-employees and veteran users organized a “Seven Days Seven Nights, Restart Tianya” campaign. They live-streamed non-stop for seven days on Douyin starting May 28, hoping to raise funds to pay for network costs. But in the end, they only raised 150,000 yuan, falling short.
In March 2024, Tianya announced another restart plan, aiming to raise funds through strategic investments, ad revenue, and e-commerce, promising to restore access by May 1. However, by then Tianya was deep in bankruptcy review and tangled in debts—the plan fizzled again.
According to earlier disclosures, Tianya Community had over 130 million registered users and more than 250 million monthly active users as one of the largest Chinese internet communities. But it struggled to monetize. In 2015, it listed on the New Third Board. In 2015 and 2016, it reported revenues of 173 million yuan and 131 million yuan respectively, but net losses of 19.91 million yuan and 10.88 million yuan. After delisting in 2019, the business continued to deteriorate.
