What are engineering teams inside major technology companies actually working on? What do experienced engineers pay attention to? T Chat began with these two questions.
The plan announced in April 2022
T Salon and Laosiji Weekly created T Chat to invite engineers from leading internet companies to talk openly about the systems they build, the choices they make and the constraints behind those choices.
The launch announcement planned at least 24 episodes, starting on April 28, 2022, every other Thursday from 20:00 to 21:00 China Standard Time. This describes the original schedule, rather than a continuing live programme.
A 30 + 30 format
The planned format paired an approximately 30-minute presentation with an approximately 30-minute one-to-one conversation between the host and guest. The second half made room for context, follow-up questions and the judgement that often disappears from a conventional talk.
From local salons to an online series
T Salon began in March 2016. The April 2022 introduction reported more than 30 offline events in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Hangzhou and Shenzhen. T Chat extended those conversations beyond a single room or city.
The same 2022 introduction described Laosiji Weekly as a mobile technology community with more than 200 issues published since 2018 and over six million cumulative reads. These are historical figures from the launch period.
Archive update — September 26, 2026
The T Chat series directory now contains 17 archived episodes, distinct from the original plan for at least 24. Episode pages link to the available bilibili talks, interviews and Q&A segments with their original titles and durations. Uploaded recordings do not all follow the planned 30 + 30 length.
April 25, 2022 is retained as the original announcement date. This English archive adaptation was updated on September 26, 2026.