WordPress is the obvious first name in third-party blogging, with Blogger, Medium, and Wix filling out the field. In China, though, that kind of service has been fading away. Ten or twenty years ago, general-purpose blog platforms were everywhere: Sina Blog, NetEase Blog, Sohu Blog, Qzone, Baidu Space, plus plenty of smaller and tech-focused sites.
As the Chinese internet changed, blogs lost ground. After Sina launched Weibo, Sina Blog began losing traffic and is now close to abandoned. In 2018, NetEase Blog announced that it would stop maintenance and pushed users toward LOFTER, which now requires a login before content can be viewed. Sohu Blog stopped operating, and posts there are visible only to the blogger. Qzone barely sees diary-style writing anymore; Moments and short status updates took over, and because Qzone is built around friend networks, it does not support browsing without logging in. Baidu Space closed after a failed attempt to reinvent itself.
Most blog platforms drifted toward light blogging or social networking services. After several platforms I used shut down more than a decade ago, I decided to run an independent blog and stop depending on any platform. My everyday notes and photo sharing moved to various social platforms. The line between social networking and blogging is not always clear, anyway: Tumblr and LOFTER are light blogs, but they work as social platforms too.
Tumblr: https://bearamaru.tumblr.com
Japan is a useful comparison. Traffic has also moved away from blog platforms there, but some old professional services still offer full-featured blogging. FC2, for example, was founded in 1999 and later launched its blog business; by 2004 it had become one of Japan's largest blog providers. I registered an account back in the 2000s but long ago forgot the password. A couple of years ago I signed up again, mainly to upload homemade videos.
FC2 now seems strict about blog applications, including limits on how often one IP can apply, and it took a fair amount of effort to get through. The admin side is genuinely professional, the interface feels very Japanese, and the workflow is old-fashioned. The final result looks good, though, and I can see using it for notes in the future.
Blog: https://bearamaru.blog.fc2.com
I also tried livedoor Blog. I learned about it recently while reading a mystery novel by Uketsu. One screenshot in the book showed a blog called 七篠レン 心の日記. In the novel's screenshot, the address bar showed nanashinoren.kaijari.jp. When I tried that domain, it did not resolve, and it had no DNS record or registration.
At first I assumed the blog was fictional, but a search showed that it actually exists at nanashinoren.blog.jp. The page matched the novel's description exactly, down to the hundreds of posts and their publication times. The platform behind it was livedoor Blog, which uses the blog.jp domain.
livedoor was founded in 1997 and became widely known in 2005 during its high-profile move on Fuji Television, eventually ranking as one of Japan's three major portals. livedoor Blog appears to have launched in 2003, making it a relatively old service.
After some fiddling, my new blog looks decent enough.
Blog: https://bearamaru.blog.jp
If nothing unexpected happens, these two blogs will join Tumblr and carry synchronized photos and short notes from here on.