Jinjiang Literature City Crash: China's Largest Online Platform Plunges into Chaos
The "晋江崩了" (Jinjiang Crash) phenomenon refers to a recent incident where Jinjiang Literature City, a popular online literature platform in China, experienced a system failure, causing widespread disruption to its services. The incident led to a flurry of complaints and discussions on social media, with the topic trending on Weibo, China's equivalent of Twitter.
12 February 2025
Jinjiang Literature City is a leading online literature platform in China, founded in 2003, which hosts a vast collection of online novels, with over 544 million works, and has published nearly 10,000 novels. The platform has a large user base, with over 245 million registered authors and an average of 36 million words updated daily. The company behind the platform, Beijing Jinjiang Original Network Technology Co., Ltd., has reported significant revenue growth in recent years, with a turnover of 14.16 billion yuan (approximately $2.1 billion USD) in 2023, and a profit of 4.56 billion yuan (approximately $680 million USD).
The incident, which occurred on September 14, was attributed to a network operator's line fault, according to Jinjiang Literature City's official statement on Weibo. The statement assured users that the technical team was working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. However, the incident sparked a mixture of frustration and humor among netizens, with some joking about the frequency of such failures and others expressing concern about the reliability of the platform.
As news of the "晋江崩了" spread, many users took to social media to express their outrage and discontent. The hashtag #晋江崩了 quickly rose to the top of the trending list on Weibo, with many netizens joking that even China's major telecom operators, such as China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom, were not as prone to crashes as Jinjiang. Others questioned the reliability of the platform, saying "I've spent so much money on this site, and it's always crashing" and "Is this really just a problem with some areas, or is it a nationwide issue?" Some users also took to criticizing the company's response to the issue, saying that the apology and explanation provided by Jinjiang's customer service were insufficient.
The outpouring of criticism and frustration from users highlights the significant impact that the collapse of Jinjiang has had on its user base. As one of the largest and most popular online literature platforms in China, Jinjiang has built a loyal following of readers and writers who rely on the site for entertainment, community, and creative expression. The company's inability to maintain a stable and reliable service has clearly fallen short of user expectations, and it remains to be seen how Jinjiang will work to regain the trust and loyalty of its users in the aftermath of this incident.
The "晋江崩了" phenomenon not only reflects the significant impact of online literature platforms on Chinese internet culture but also highlights the importance of reliable and stable online services in the digital age. As online platforms continue to play an increasingly vital role in people's daily lives, incidents like this serve as a reminder of the need for robust infrastructure and effective crisis management to minimize disruptions and maintain user trust. The collapse or significant disruption of a major platform like Jinjiang Literature City could have broader implications for the digital publishing industry, especially in China, leading to discussions about digital infrastructure resilience, content preservation, and the reliance on online platforms for cultural and entertainment content.
