We are thrilled to announce that our two Chinese TLDs, “.在线” (Dot Chinese Online) and “.中文网” (Dot Chinese Website), passed Pre-Delegation Testing on 28 November (Thanksgiving Day in the US), and we now have a clear path to annoucing our go-live schedule! We're proud to be bringing the essential new Chinese TLDs to the internet, so its only fitting that we introduce the TLDs according to the ancient Chinese almanac (also known as the "Farmer's Calendar). First created by eminent Chinese astrologers in the Han Dynasty, around 200BC, the almanac continues to be an important guide to life for more than a billion Chinese people around the world. Our “trademark-owners only” Sunrise period will commence on Friday January 17, and run for 60 days, concluding on Monday March 17. Both the start and end days of Sunrise fall on highly auspicious days for “starting new businesses” in the ancient Chinese almanac.  The conclusion of the Sunrise period will be marked with a traditional ceremony in China’s capital, Beijing, on March 17. We're looking forward to that spectacular ceremony! Following a two-day quiet period, the second stage of domain name availability – the Landrush period – will begin on Thursday March 20, which is an auspicious day for “breaking ground”. As the introduction of Dot Chinese Online and Dot Chinese Website is analogous to the opening of valuable new tracts of internet real estate in the Chinese-speaking world, starting Landrush on a lucky day for breaking ground is highly resonant in the China region. The Landrush period will be launched with a traditional ceremony and vibrant celebration in China’s Macau on March 20.  Expect a typical southern China style of celebration, complete with lion dance, firecrackers and blessings from our feng shui master! A hybrid live and internet auction of some of the most valuable and sought-after domain names in Dot Chinese Online and Dot Chinese Website will be held in Macau one day later, on Friday 21 March. This innovative event will combine an international online auction with a full day of live auction, interesting speakers and entertainment in the most prestigous location in Macau. More information will be released soon. The Landrush period will run through the weeklong ICANN meeting in Singapore (March 23—27) and China’s Qing Ming festival (April 4—6) and conclude on Thursday April 24. A three-day quiet period will immediately follow. General availability of domain names in Dot Chinese Online and Dot Chinese Website will begin on Monday 28 April, 2014 (a highly auspicious date for “starting new businesses” and “grand openings”). Minor changes to the go-live schedule may be required by ICANN, however we're confident that the milestones will be achieved on the set...

After an arduous and complicated five-year journey, TLD Registry has finally passed the most important milestone since our formation: the all-important Registrar Agreements with ICANN have been signed and countersigned. And in Beijing, in the presence of Finland's prime minister Jyrki Katainen no less! Read the news story at the Wall Street Journal's MarketWatch. Dot Chinese Online & Dot Chinese Website, and our vision for a vibrant, open, culturally relevant and linguistically relevant Chinese web have taken a huge step forward. Prime Minister Katainen made us feel very proud when he told the assembled media, "It is reasonable to expect that this innovation made real by entrepreneurs from Finland will bring tremendous, long-term benefits for China's Internet users. Bridging the last gap in a fully Chinese web is a milestone achievement and it will be remembered. I am very proud it was my countrymen who came up with this solution that is so significant economically and culturally." With ICANN RAs in hand, we are now on a clearly signposted path towards our "eligible trademark owners only" Sunrise period, followed by our "open to entire world" Landrush period where anyone can apply for favorite or highly valued available 'premium' names, followed by another "open to the entire world" General Availability period where anyone can register available names on a first-come, first-served basis. When exactly will these phases start? A great question. In fact, this is the single most common question our registrar relations and marketing teams are asked every day. Our simple answer: soon. We wish we could be more precise, however the next steps which ICANN requires us to take -- pre-delegation testing (to ensure we comply with ICANN's operational and technical rules), Trademark Clearinghouse integration (to better protect the privileges of trademark owners), and delegation into the IANA root (so registrant's domain names work correctly) -- will all start and end at currently-indefinite times. Once we have achieved delegation into the IANA root, we may issue a mandatory 30-day notice for our Sunrise period. At that time we'll have a clear set of dates to announce. Our best guess?  We'll be in full General Availability either by Christmas (December 25, 2013) or by the Chinese New Year (January 31st, 2014). However these goalposts may move due to situations and stakeholders beyond our control! We'll be blogging our progress right here at the home of Dot Chinese Online & Dot Chinese Website. Please join us on our journey to make the Chinese web better and safer for Chinese netizens and the enterprises and organizations which inform, entertain and empower them. Taneli Tikka, Arto Isokoski and Jarno Marjamäki Co-Founders, TLD Registry 10th September...