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Yating Yang

United States users of the soon-to-be-banned TikTok social media platform have been given a warm welcome by their Chinese counterparts on the RedNote platform.
The migration of users, who have been dubbed “TikTok refugees”, was prompted by an expected ban of the platform in the United States on January 19.
It is also being seen as a protest against the banning of the ByteDance-owned platform, which has led more Americans to embrace another app developed in China.
The influx of foreign users has boosted RedNote’s popularity, catapulting it to become the number one free-to-use social media platform across all free iPhone apps in the US.
RedNote is a Chinese social media platform that has grown in popularity worldwide.
Also known as Xiaohongshu, which means “little red book”, it was launched in 2013 and is based in Shanghai.
It has also sparked a vibrant mix of language, humour and cultural exchanges among netizens on the social media platform.

The cross-cultural encounters surged in popularity since January 13, when mainland netizens found their RedNote feeds flooded with posts from foreign newcomers, greeting in English or attempting to use machine-translated Chinese.
Some Chinese netizens were surprised and asked: “Did my phone transport me to another universe?”
The interactions soon evolved into playful exchanges, with mainland users developing their own welcomes in Chinglish.
“U like Chinese, we kiss kiss, you hate Chinese, we punch punch. You talk good about China, we talk good about you, you talk bad about China, we will make you cry. ”
A new term, “cat tax” also emerged as Chinese users joked that foreigners needed to post a picture of their pets, preferably cats, as a form of “tax” to continue engaging on the platform.
Foreign users quickly embraced this, posting pictures and saying: “Here’s me paying my cat tax. Please enjoy!”
In response, Chinese users shared their own pet photos, leading to an exchange of cat and dog pictures in the comments.
The cross-cultural vibe also transformed the platform into an English homework hub, as savvy Chinese students began posting their English homework exercises, seeking help from foreign users.
Many foreign users enthusiastically provided accurate answers despite the lengthy lists of questions.
Some even joked that the English homework assignments were too difficult even for native speakers, as “the multiple-choice answers seem all correct”.
One Chinese user also said: “I could never understand English in school, but now I have mastered grammar, prepositions and conjunctions in just a few days!”
It has also inspired some foreign users to seek help with maths problems from the Chinese community.
Chinese netizens dubbed the phenomenon a “Morning C and Evening A,” referring to the use of Vitamin C products in the morning and Vitamin A products at night, but now humorously referring to the platform being used by Chinese users in the daytime and Americans in the evenings.
“RedNote has been completely taken over by Americans! With the time difference, it is like early mornings belong to Chinese users, and evenings for Americans,” said one viewer.
Amid rising US-China tensions, many see this as a significant moment of connection between the two cultures.
One viewer said: “This is the first large-scale interaction between Chinese and American netizens. For the first time, I feel like the world is truly connected.”
“Wow, it feels like we have fast-forwarded to a time when the people of China and the US are engaging harmoniously, giving me a sense of global unity.
“This feels like a once-in-a-lifetime moment. Even if it is fleeting, just witnessing it is worth it,” said another.

RedNote users in mainland China have also shared their thoughts with the Post on the so-called TikTok refugees.
“Welcome to this great historic change. If all Americans flood into RedNote, breaking down borders, it will feel like a global celebration,” said one.
“I went to check them out the night they joined. It was not just Americans. People from the UK, Ireland, and other places also joined in. It felt like opening Instagram or YouTube,” said another.
“My first thought was that this is a great chance to practise English! Watching videos from British guys and listening to their perfect pronunciation is a fun way to train my listening skills. Plus, they are really good-looking!” she added.
A third user suggested that because of jurisdictional and cultural differences there could be regulatory issues over the migration of so-called TikTok refugees.
“We use RedNote in China, and they use TikTok abroad. That is just about meeting different countries’ internet regulatory requirements.
“Maybe China has stricter content reviews. Now that these TikTok creators have moved to RedNote, will they adapt to the platform? They have arrived, but will they get used to it, and how long will they stay?
“Will their presence bring any changes to RedNote? Perhaps RedNote will need to enhance its content moderation, otherwise, it could easily run into regulatory issues. In the future, will RedNote also need to be split into domestic and international versions?” the user asked.
Meanwhile, registering for a RedNote account is simple and there are multiple easy ways of doing so using your phone number, or a third party account such as WeChat.


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People & Culture

Expected US TikTok ban sparks influx of US users to Chinese social media platform, ushers in humorous cross-cultural linguistic exchanges


Expected US TikTok ban sparks influx of US users to Chinese social media platform, ushers in humorous cross-cultural linguistic exchanges.


TikTok ban

TikTok

RedNote

‘If you like Chinese, we kiss kiss’: China netizens playfully welcome ‘TikTok refugees’

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Expected US TikTok ban sparks influx of US users to Chinese social media platform, ushers in humorous cross-cultural linguistic exchanges

Expected US TikTok ban sparks influx of US users to Chinese social media platform, ushers in humorous cross-cultural linguistic exchanges