Era 02 · 1994–2000
Web
Everyone can view web pages, and portals bring information online
- Start
- 1994-04-20 China gains full-function internet access; Netscape is founded and the W3C is established
- End
- 2000-03-10 the Nasdaq peaks and the bubble bursts; the three major portals go public the same year
Background and drivers
- Hardware: personal computers entered homes and offices, and Windows 95 brought the graphical interface to the masses.
- Networks: dial-up access (28.8k–56k modems), billed by the minute; China began offering public access in 1995, and CNNIC's first count in 1997 found only 620,000 internet users.
- Capital: venture capital flooded in, with the “eyeball economy” and valuations based on traffic eventually fueling the internet bubble.
- Users: expanded from researchers to white-collar workers and students, mainly to “read the news, check email, and chat.”
- Policy: China issued its first administrative regulation on computer security in 1994; in 2000 it issued the Administrative Measures for Internet Information Services, and websites began to be managed through licensing and filing.
Pain points
- Ordinary people did not know how to use the command line and needed an interface where “you click and you see.”
- The number of websites exploded and information was hard to find; portals relied on manual cataloging, which could not keep up with the growth.
- Web pages were static, their content had to be edited by hand in HTML every day, and they could not interact with users.
- Netscape and IE each did their own thing, so the same web page looked different on the two (the “browser wars”).
- Dial-up was slow, and a page would not load once an image got large.
- Most websites had no clear business model and burned through funding.
- Viruses spread through floppy disks and email attachments (CIH, ILOVEYOU), and personal computers had almost no protection.
New technology and practices
- Graphical browsers (Mosaic, Navigator, IE) → pain point 1: mouse clicks and mixed text and images let ordinary people get online.
- Portals and categorized directories (Yahoo, Sina, Sohu) → pain point 2: organizing information into channels so readers can look things up by directory.
- Full-text search engines (in 1998 Google used PageRank to rank by link relationships; Baidu was founded in 2000) → pain point 2: using machines in place of manual cataloging. The limits of portal cataloging are exactly why search took off.
- CGI, ASP, PHP, JSP, and database-driven dynamic web pages → pain point 3: content stored in a database and pages generated by programs; forums and message boards appeared.
- JavaScript (1995) and CSS (1996) → pain points 3 and 4: pages could have simple interactivity, and style was separated from content.
- W3C standardization → pain point 4: HTML and CSS specifications were unified, though real adoption had to wait for the next era.
- Image slicing and compression (GIF, JPEG) and table-based layout → pain point 5: the basic craft of web design, with the “three musketeers of web design” (Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash) becoming popular.
- Instant messaging and free email (ICQ, OICQ, 163 Mail) → one attempt at pain point 6: build up users with free services first, then find a way to make money.
- Antivirus software and firewalls became widespread, and in 1997 China's criminal law added computer-crime offenses → pain point 7.
China connects: the 1994 leased line
On April 20, 1994, the NCFC project opened a 64 kbps international leased line to the internet via the US company Sprint, and China achieved full-function connection to the international internet, becoming the 77th country with full-function access.
The landing point is illustrative. Sources: Cyberspace Administration of China: Review marking the 30th anniversary of China's full-function access to the international internet (2024-04-20) (in Chinese)(opens in a new window); Computer Network Information Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences: China's internet began at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (in Chinese)(opens in a new window)
How a page loads
Graphical browsers made “click and it shows up” possible, but behind every click the browser first has to find where the server is.
Roles of this era
- DesignInteraction Designer
Web graphic artists and web designers, whose daily work was slicing images, laying out pages with tables, and making Flash animations.
- Frontend (precursor)Frontend Engineer
Web production, hand-writing HTML and dealing with compatibility between IE and Netscape. The term “frontend” did not yet exist.
- Backend (precursor)Backend Engineer
CGI, Perl, and ASP programmers, writing message boards, forums, and news publishing systems, using Access and MySQL databases.
- Product (precursor)Product Manager
Portal channel editors and website planners, deciding what went in each channel and how pages were arranged.
Network administrators and system administrators, managing server hosting, dial-up access, and mail servers.
- SecuritySecurity Engineer
Engineers at antivirus and firewall vendors, and members of the early hacker community.
Security & law thread
- China1994-02-18: State Council Order No. 147 issued the Regulations on the Security Protection of Computer Information Systems, effective from the date of issue, introducing the concept of “security multi-level protection” (1994 original version (in Chinese)(opens in a new window)). It was revised by State Council Order No. 588 on 2011-01-08, and the current version is the 2011 revision (current version (in Chinese)(opens in a new window)).
- ChinaIn 1997 the criminal law was revised, adding Article 285 (the crime of illegal intrusion into computer information systems) and Article 286 (the crime of damaging computer information systems). (The original text of the criminal law has not yet been downloaded to laws-cn; the source is to be added.)
- China2000-09-25: State Council Order No. 292 promulgated the Administrative Measures for Internet Information Services, effective from the date of promulgation. Commercial websites had to apply for a license and non-commercial websites had to file (the origin of ICP licensing and filing) (2000 original version (in Chinese)(opens in a new window)). It was then revised for the first time on 2011-01-08 and for the second time on 2024-12-06 (State Council Order No. 797, effective 2025-01-20), and the current version is the 2024 revision (current version (in Chinese)(opens in a new window)).
- China2000-12-28: the Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Safeguarding Internet Security (2000 original version (in Chinese)(opens in a new window)). It was amended on 2009-08-27 by the Decision on Amending Certain Laws (Article 6 was changed to the Public Security Administration Punishments Law), and the current text is the 2009 amended version; the national laws and regulations database includes only the 2000 original, so the 2009 amended text is taken from the Cyberspace Administration of China's official website (2009 amended version (in Chinese)(opens in a new window), not the issuing authority's text).
- Global1998-10-28: the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA, Public Law 105-304) was signed, establishing the “safe harbor” rule (17 U.S.C. §512), which later deeply shaped UGC platforms (public law original text(opens in a new window)).
- GlobalOn April 26, 1999, the CIH virus triggered a large-scale outbreak capable of destroying motherboard BIOS.
- GlobalIn May 2000 the ILOVEYOU email worm spread worldwide.
Key events
The State Council issues the Regulations on the Security Protection of Computer Information Systems
Sources: xzfg.moj.gov.cn(opens in a new window) · flk.npc.gov.cn(opens in a new window)
NCFC opens a 64 kbps international leased line via Sprint in the US, giving China full-function internet access
Sources: cernet.edu.cn(opens in a new window)
The CAS Institute of High Energy Physics sets up China's first Web server and launches China's first set of web pages
Sources to be added
The W3C is established
Netscape Navigator 1.0 is released
The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications opens 64 kbps leased lines in Beijing and Shanghai, beginning to offer public internet access
Sources to be added
Netscape and Sun announce JavaScript
The W3C releases the CSS1 recommendation
Sources: w3.org(opens in a new window)
CNNIC is established
NetEase (1997-06), Sohu (renamed 1998-02), Tencent (1998-11-11), and Sina (1998-12) are founded in succession
Sources: zh.wikipedia.org(opens in a new window) · zh.wikipedia.org(opens in a new window) · zh.wikipedia.org(opens in a new window) · zh.wikipedia.org(opens in a new window)
Google is founded
Alibaba is founded in Hangzhou; in 1999-02 Tencent launches OICQ
Sources: alibabagroup.com(opens in a new window) · zh.wikipedia.org(opens in a new window)
The CIH virus triggers a large-scale outbreak
Baidu is founded
The Nasdaq index peaks and the internet bubble begins to burst
Sina (April), NetEase (June), and Sohu (July) list on the Nasdaq
Sources to be added
The State Council issues the Administrative Measures for Internet Information Services
Sources: xzfg.moj.gov.cn(opens in a new window) · flk.npc.gov.cn(opens in a new window)
On to the next era
The bursting of the bubble proved that “traffic but no revenue” was a dead end, and portals' manual cataloging could not keep up with the growth of information. What survived next were the models that could turn traffic into money (search advertising, e-commerce, online gaming, SMS value-added services), along with communities that let users produce content themselves.