Tianya Community Founder Says Cooling Enthusiasm Is Part of the Plan: 'Failure Is Very Unlikely'
Three years after going dark, Tianya Community — one of China’s earliest and most influential internet forums — made its official return on June 1, 2026. But now, just over three weeks later, the initial wave of nostalgia-driven excitement has noticeably subsided. For founder Xing Ming, that’s exactly how things were meant to go.
In an interview published on June 23 by Xiaoxiang Morning News, Xing acknowledged the cooling enthusiasm with surprising candor. “This is what I wanted,” he said, describing a deliberate strategy to return the platform to “a low-key, step-by-step recovery track — doing real work, running fast in small steps.”
The June 1 relaunch date was no accident. Xing admitted it was chosen after careful deliberation — netizens jokingly called it “a Children’s Day gift for the post-70s and post-80s generations.” But he was quick to add that “Tianya’s comeback shouldn’t be an exercise in nostalgia. It needs to be young.”
The initial numbers backed up the pent-up demand. During the first week, the “Tianya God Posts” mini-program added nearly 200,000 new registered users, swelling from what had been just tens of thousands before the relaunch.
A New Business Model
For years, Tianya was a breeding ground for blockbuster IP. Novels like Ghost Blows Out the Light and The Lost Tomb were serialized on its boards, along with Those Things About the Ming Dynasty. But the platform itself never captured the value. Xing is determined to change that.
“There will now be payment mechanisms and tipping systems,” he explained. “If users enjoy a piece of content, they can buy virtual items and send them to the author. It generates income for creators and a business model for the platform, with low operational overhead.”
Content won’t stay confined to text forums, either. Xing plans to push Tianya-born IP into short dramas and short videos — a matrix-style distribution model that has already drawn interest from nearly 30 potential partners in the first month alone.
The “New Tianya” Pivot
The relaunched platform carries a new positioning: “a global travel and fashion lifestyle social e-commerce platform.” Content will center on fashion, consumer trends, travel, and lifestyle — with goods and services aligned to those categories. A membership store, operating on a membership e-commerce model, will target early adopters among users already willing to pay for Tianya’s archive of classic posts. Xing’s target: one million paying members by 2028.
“The failure probability is very low,” Xing asserted. He points to two to three years of preparation, legally secured data recovery, financial reserves for the rebuild, a young team coming together, and a pragmatic business model. “Even if a major accident happens — we’ve endured through the hardest times. That resilience will carry us into new territory.”
A Storied History
Tianya Community was founded in 1999 by Xing Ming, then a stock-trading enthusiast who built it as a discussion forum for fellow investors. It grew into one of the most important gathering places on the early Chinese internet, attracting high-quality contributors and launching cultural phenomena — from the first-generation internet celebrity “Sister Furong” to serialized novels that became national hits.
Between 2015 and 2018, Tianya listed on China’s NEEQ exchange and later delisted, at one point commanding a market valuation of one billion yuan. But as mobile internet rose, the forum — along with contemporaries like Mop and Rongshuxia — faded from relevance.
In April 2023, Tianya announced a temporary shutdown for “technical upgrades and data restructuring.” A month later, it disclosed the deeper truth: liquidity problems, unresolved lawsuits, bank credit cuts, and staff departures had forced it offline.
Now, with the relaunch behind him, Xing is asking for patience. “Whether we can return to our peak, bring users back and keep them — that needs time to prove,” he said. “I hope everyone gives Tianya a little more patience. We’ll do our best to protect and grow this unique presence.”