About

Rednote TikTok Refugees, also known as #TikTokRefugee, refers to a trend and hashtag on American social media and the Chinese social networking app Rednote or Xiaohongshu in January 2025. Several TikTokers began downloading and posting on the largely Chinese Instagram alternative after hearing the news that the U.S. government might ban the video-sharing app TikTok. Posts showing American and Chinese social media users interacting began making the rounds online on January 13th, 2025.

Origin

On January 13th, 2025, the Chinese social networking and e-commerce site Rednote became the most downloaded free app on Apple's app store in the United States over the weekend.^[1]

Discussions about TikTokers making Rednote accounts erupted days before the U.S. Supreme Court was slated to issue a ruling on whether TikTok will be banned domestically. On January 13th, several TikTok users joined Rednote and began jokingly referring to themselves as "TikTok Refugees" in the hopes of finding a viable alternative to the video-sharing app. Several TikTokers also posted about what they encountered on the Chinese social media platform, sharing casual encounters with Chinese Rednote users.

Redditor /u/Rude_Lifeguard posted about Rednote rising to the top of the U.S. App Store to the subreddit /r/popculturechat on January 13th, gathering over 5,000 upvotes in a day.^[5]

Spread

On January 13th, 2025, Twitter / X^[4] user @abby4thepeople posted a screenshot of a Chinese Rednote user jokingly writing, "Welcome my new American friend. I am your new Chinese spy friend." The caption on the tweet read, "Lmao at thousands of people downloading Rednote (the version of tiktok that is actually owned by China) to spite the U.S. government, finding themselves having lovely interactions with the millions of Chinese citizens on the app & inadvertently undoing decades of U.S. propaganda." The post received over 14.5 million views, 467,000 likes and 1,500 replies in a day.

On January 13th, 2025, several American internet users began discussing Rednote and whether it could be considered a viable alternative to TikTok. For instance, on January 13th, TikToker^[2] @astralxbeauty posted a video of an American man's post to Rednote in which someone asked for help with English grammar homework in the comments. The TikTok gathered over 2 million views and 200,000 likes in a day.

Also on January 13th, X^[3] user @_emowrist posted several screenshots of Chinese and American Rednote users interacting, including an American user named "YN Xiao Xiao" posting a photo of an overweight white man with the caption, "Ni Hao fine shyts." Another screenshot showed a Chinese user warning "TikTok Refugees" that their saved posts were not private.

Later on January 13th, X^[6] user @susanbutworse posted a video of a Chinese cowboy welcoming American users in a Southern accent, writing, "incredible things happening on xiaohongshu," and gathering over 5,000 likes in a day.

incredible things happening on xiaohongshu pic.twitter.com/o9pGqKRBzd

— 👩‍🦰 (@susanbutworse) January 14, 2025

Meanwhile, on January 13th, 2025, X^[7] user @danielarmands posted a Chinese Cursed Plankton meme, writing, "this post from xiaohongshu literally transcended all language I’m crying," and gathering over 50,000 likes in a day.

this post from xiaohongshu literally transcended all language I’m crying pic.twitter.com/mQfAXu2CDQ

— edy (@danielarmands) January 14, 2025

Various Examples

Search Interest

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External References