Ok. So most of us are well aware of the Chinese Chat software, QQ. Chances are, if you know a Chinese person, you know a registered QQ user.

Founded by Pony Ma in Shenzhen, China, in November 1998, Tencent is now recognized as the leading provider of Internet, mobile & telecommunications value-added services in China. QQ, Tencent’s instant messaging service platform, officially launched in Feb 1999 and announced in its 2006 Q3 report that it has 221.4 million active users. What’s more, the total registered user accounts has climbed to 572.3 million! (Source readwriteweb.com)

So lets put that in perspective. If active QQ users formed their own nation, here’s what the world’s top 5 highest populated countries would look like:

Download Tencent QQ Chinese Chat Software. Yes, there is an English Version.1. China — 1,321,851,888*
2. India — 1,129,866,154
3. United States — 301,139,947
4. Indonesia — 234,693,997
5. Republic of QQ — 221,400,000
6. Pakistan — 169,270,617
7. Bangladesh — 150,448,339
8. Russia — 141,377,752
9. Nigeria — 135,031,164
10. Japan — 127,467,972

*Note: Ok, I know I didn’t take away the QQ users from China’s population, but I’m not encouraging a revolution here…

In any case, if you want in on a piece of all that action but you don’t speak Chinese, never fear, there is an English version:

Download Tencent QQ2005 English Standard Version

Keep in mind that you will need a QQ number, and those aren’t free. But like anything in China, ask your Chinese friends what they can do for you, and you’ll likely have one soon after.

Update: Thijs points out in the comments that there is now an English Sign-up page.

The english download above was first brought to my attention by Dezza of Mask of China. After I taught a year of university in China, I found that this was an excellent way to keep in touch with each and every one of my students, as about 99% of them were on QQ. Unfortunately I quit using the program after a while, since it was a little resource heavy. Update: I’m now using Adium on a Mac to run both QQ and MSN side-by-side. On a PC, you could try Pidgin IM Client.

If you’re a bit more ambitious, and want to give the Chinese version a go, you can get that here. Chinese Windows might be a requirement for this, though I don’t know how it displays in Vista yet.
Download Tencent QQ Chinese Version 2007 Beta1

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