Who knew your favorite content creators were fluent in Mandarin Chinese? If you’ve been wondering why your TikTok For You feed is flooded with Chinese-language videos, it’s because many users are starting to test out a platform called Xiaohongshu (aka Little Red Book or RedNote).
TikTok user @davefromthesuburbs thought one of his students was messing around on social media one day, but he was quickly taken by surprise when they spoke Mandarin. He posted a video about it on TikTok that has over 191.3K views, 57.6K likes, and 1,601 comments.
@davefromthesuburbs #fyp #tiktok #tiktokban #rednote #explore ♬ original sound – Davefromthesuburbs
“My student is playing a video loud in class. So I’m like, yo bro, can you turn that down? And as he’s proceeding to turn it down, I’m hearing a different language through his phone,” @davefromthesuburbs describes. “He’s like, I’m not on TikTok, mister. I’m on RedNote, learning Mandarin” in the middle of my class.”
@davefromthesuburbs asked his student to say a few words, and was blown away by the response. “I’m like, yo bro, say good morning. How are you doing in Mandarin? He full out said it. And it was correct, too.”
Why are people speaking Chinese on TikTok?
It’s hard to imagine life without TikTok, but for over 150 million Americans, that life could soon become a reality. The video-based social media app could potentially be banned in the U.S. as of Jan. 19., 2025.
Calling themselves “TikTok Refugees,” hundreds of thousands of social media users are relocating to RedNote in response to this news. The hashtag #TikTokRefugees has over 29k posts and many videos describe their experiences, such as how welcoming the platform has been, and how it’s opened their world to new Chinese cultural connections.
Some are even picking up a few skills as well — like learning a new language
With over 178K views, English comedian Michael Barrymore (username @themichaelbarrymore) posted a TikTok video of his “first Red Note post!!” speaking Mandarin, with a few introductory phrases including “Hello, my name is…” “I am from England” and introducing his adorable pup, Lara.
@themichaelbarrymore My first Red Note post!! So far it has 70 views 🎉 #michaelbarrymore ♬ Chinese tradition music – Mihail Todorov
TikTok user @cowboykill3r took things a bit further in a video where she thanks the U.S. government for banning TikTok, explains how she’s found a new community of “netizens” and Chinese friends, and that she loves the People’s Republic of China” – all in Mandarin. The video has over 4.4M views, 1.1M likes, and 4963 comments.
What is Xiaohongshu, or RedNote?
According to their website, Xiaohongshu is “a lifestyle platform for young people…With the mission of ‘Inspire Lives – Sharing and Discovering the Wonders of the World’”. It was founded in Shanghai, China, in 2013. The company claims that as of 2019, it had over 300 million users and 100 million monthly active users.
“Users can record their daily lives, share their lifestyles, and interact based on their interests through short videos, pictures and texts,” the company states. The user interface is strikingly similar to TikTok as well, making it easy to find and upload content on the platform.
Users are also predominantly Gen Z and younger: As of October 2019, “70% [of users] are born after 1990, and the number continues to grow rapidly.” The app also offers an English language option, if one doesn’t fancy joining other TikTok refugees in learning Chinese.
Will RedNote totally replace TikTok?
While social media users, especially content creators, are prepping for a possible loss of their beloved TikTok, oddly enough, they aren’t pushing to post on similar short video apps like Instagram and YouTube.
Reuters reports that “more than 700,000 new users joined Xiaohongshu” sometime after Jan. 12., 2025, and that “U.S. downloads of RedNote were up more than 200% year-over-year this week,” making it one of the most popular free download apps at the moment.
While most are likely using the platform in anticipation of the ban, some are implying that people are downloading Chinese apps like RedNote as a political move.
X user @DenaKhalafallah posted that “xiaohongshu/rednote is the third most popular in social networking on the app store charts because everyone wants to protest the stupid tiktok ban,”
“Yo, American government. Y’all really found yourself in an F around and found out moment,” @davefromthesuburbs adds in his video. “You have kids under the age of 18 willing to learn a whole different language just to show y’all how truly powerful we are.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Xiaohongshu and @davefromthesuburbs via email and @cowboykill3r via TikTok DM for comment.
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