‘Indispensable to me’: how RedNote has taken over China’s travel scene
Chinese lifestyle app RedNote is now the first place to which many younger travellers turn to seek inspiration, one expert says
Competition is fierce for professional photographers at Beijing’s tourist hotspots, including a scenic lake where women in flowy traditional robes pose for snaps to share on RedNote, China’s massively popular lifestyle app also known as Xiaohongshu.
The platform, which is reportedly preparing to file to go public as soon as this year, has shaken up the tourism industry in China, where domestic travel is booming to record levels.
RedNote’s interface is similar to the US social network Pinterest, but it is sometimes nicknamed “China’s Instagram” as users can post photos and videos and even livestream.
Travellers use the app to discover new destinations and plan their itineraries around photogenic locations, like the lake in the capital’s historic Shichahai area – one of many daka or “check-in” spots where RedNote is driving even more footfall.
On a recent Monday, photographer Li Geng, 18, stood with a camera slung across her neck, touting her services to wandering tourists whom she charges 10 yuan (US$1.50) per photo.
Metres away, other photographers yelled instructions to ornately dressed young women who held their fingers in victory signs and arched their backs for the camera.