Layout Design: Jiang Jiang

In 2025, a celestial purple star has risen.

Xiaohongshu has soared to the top of the US App Store charts!

Behind this wave of unanticipated success lies TikTok, ironically aiding its rival.

These new Xiaohongshu fans were once ardent TikTok followers.

An astonishing 170 million American users, fearing an imminent TikTok ban, flooded Xiaohongshu overnight under the hashtag #TikTokRefugees.

Instagram and YouTube, poised to capitalize on TikTok's downfall, never anticipated that Shanghai-based Xiaohongshu would emerge as the ultimate beneficiary.

1

An extraordinary sight! Foreigners flocking to the "Great Firewall."

For avid Xiaohongshu users in China, the influx of these "foreign" influencers brought joy.

"Chinglish" became the new lingua franca, with some even offering textbook-worthy welcome messages.

These foreigners, bringing friends and family, clearly understood the local customs.

They knew to "pay homage" by posting cat photos and, if cat-less, to join the "Sacred Fire Meow Meow Cult" with their dogs, squirrels, or even donkeys.

New beginnings, starting from scratch, seeking mutual follows.

Friendship required sincerity, showcasing value, helping with troubles, and even doing English homework became a professional match.

This tactic was loved by children and welcomed by Chinese parents alike.

Others humbled themselves, seeking advice, prioritizing openness to persuasion.

Of course, fit guys with eight-pack abs and pretty girls remained the most popular wherever they went.

For these foreigners, mostly unfamiliar with Chinese and reliant on translation machines, misunderstandings were inevitable.

However, Xiaohongshu's attitude towards these new foreign influences was mostly friendly and tolerant.

Among the new users were former TikTok influencers optimistic about their future on Xiaohongshu.

TheLittleBB, a home and pet blogger with 19,000 TikTok followers, had already deleted TikTok, saying, "I will rebuild everything on Xiaohongshu."

2

Can Xiaohongshu handle this overwhelming traffic surge?

This influx of foreigners catapulted Xiaohongshu into the spotlight.

Its rise was not unfounded.

Rebellious American netizens, unwilling to comply with the TikTok ban, expressed their dissatisfaction by choosing China's Xiaohongshu over YouTube and Instagram.

An American user posted a video on Xiaohongshu stating, "I would rather stare at a language I don't understand than use any social media platform owned by Mark Zuckerberg."

Although Lemon8, a ByteDance-owned lifestyle community similar to Xiaohongshu, was an option, users were concerned about a potential future ban.

Moreover, Xiaohongshu's registration process didn't require a domestic mobile number, making it convenient for American netizens to log in with one click.

In terms of content, Xiaohongshu allowed image-text posts, videos, live streaming, and e-commerce, positioning itself as a lifestyle-sharing community. It was seen as a combination of TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. Xiaohongshu's recommendation algorithm focused on keyword matching and search recommendations, making its content more open and fresh.

For Xiaohongshu, this sudden traffic surge was also a test.

With Chinese users active during the day and Americans at night, the operation team might face the pressure of working three shifts.

The addition of various languages and new content posed a severe test for Xiaohongshu's content moderation algorithms.

The lack of a one-click translation feature created significant communication barriers between local and overseas users.

Amidst the laughter and joy, the pressure was almost entirely on Xiaohongshu.

Reports suggested that ByteDance was considering selling TikTok to Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and the world's richest man, who had become an ally of the elected US President, Donald Trump.

In April 2024, Musk tweeted, "I believe TikTok should not be banned in the US. Such a ban would violate freedom of speech and expression. This is not the stance of the United States."

However, this unconfirmed report was likely an optimistic conjecture, as a TikTok spokesperson told the media, "We can't comment on purely fictional events."

TikTok still faced a grim outlook.

In recent years, besides TikTok, other successful Chinese companies abroad included Shein, Temu (Pinduoduo's cross-border e-commerce platform), AI education apps Question.AI and Poly.AI by Zuoyebang, and CapCut (Jianying's overseas version).

TikTok's experience served as a warning for these pioneering Chinese companies. Operating abroad required more than just technical prowess; they might also face threats from other aspects.

And in this incident, Xiaohongshu's unexpected win might have given everyone a new revelation.

In the wave of globalization, every ripple involved ordinary people. Whether Chinese or foreign, the distance between us was not as vast as we imagined.

The harmonious and joyful scenes on Xiaohongshu demonstrated that the "Tower of Babel" was not an insurmountable obstacle. Even with language barriers, a photo, a song, or a video could bridge the vast distance. Such modes of communication allowed more foreigners to see the real life of Chinese people today.

Looking ahead, platforms like Xiaohongshu could help expand the influence of Chinese brands and showcase China's transformation from manufacturing to smart manufacturing.

In the future, perhaps foreigners would make purchases on Xiaohongshu, and perhaps Chinese brands would use Xiaohongshu as a springboard to explore new markets.

It belonged to China and also to the world.

Just like Xiaohongshu, originating in China, it could transform into the world's "Big Red Book" if it seized the opportunity.

And what's exciting is always the next page you turn.