As the fate of TikTok remains uncertain after its brief shutdown and restoration, Chinese social media app RedNote continues to claim the top spot on Apple’s U.S. App Store’s ranking.

Rednote went viral almost overnight. In the wake of TikTok’s looming ban, millions of TikTok users are flocking to Rednote, where they are self-proclaimed “TikTok refugees.” Data from analytics firm Similarweb revealed that daily active users in the U.S. spiked to 3.4 million on Monday, Jan 13th, up from less than 700,000 the day before and just 300,000 the previous week.

The unprecedented cyber immigration facilitates cross-cultural exchange, especially given the context of the tense relationship between the U.S. and Chinese governments. Popular hashtags like #tiktokrefugee have sparked 19 million discussions, with many featuring videos of American users introducing themselves, while Chinese users respond with welcoming greetings.

“Guest in house”

One post titled “Hello from America” received 120k+ likes after its creator Brecken Neumann shared a photo holding his daughter laughing. In response, a Chinese user shared her own family photo in a warm show of welcome. Soon, greetings with family photos from across continents began to dominate the comment section. 

This post of Chinese and American users exchanging family photos quickly spread to other platforms. A comment on X, with 8 million views and 38k likes, read, “Isn’t this just how the world is supposed to be?” Another comment on Weibo, China’s equivalent of X, said,”Kindness and love are the greatest languages of humanity.”

“It’s been very emotional on my side. We all literally live under the same sky,” Neumann told the Global Observer,“My wife has seen me tear up a couple of times because it’s such a beautiful thing to scroll through comments, respond to people, and just see everybody connect.”

Neumann said his initial thought was to come to learn new things,  “I knew Chinese New Year was coming up, so I thought maybe they’d share some pictures; I’d love to see that.”

He didn’t expect a simple “Hello” to resonate with worldwide netizens, “In less than 24 hours, I woke up, and my wife came in like, ‘Did you see this?’ I was busy working and hadn’t checked anything yet. When I finally looked, I was like, ‘Whoa, that’s crazy.’”

Pets have always been the most popular topics on Rednote. Resident users demanded newcomers a “tax” for entry fee for using the platform – cat photos. 

“As a new member from the US, I’ve heard that we should pay cat tax in order to be considered for acceptance as a member. I am more than happy to pay. Please say hello to my cat Lili, “a user from Texas shared. The comment section quickly filled with memes like “Refugee Tax Notice” and “Cat Tax Receipt,” rewarding their effort to “pay the tax.”

Shanna Marin, a Canadian TikTok creator with over 2 million followers, joined Rednote a week ago. She shared a video on Rednote of herself walking in the snow with her grey poodle, Flint, captioned in bilingual, “Today, I’ve learned ‘snow’ in Mandarin,” which quickly garnered 92k likes from curious users eager to glimpse a different life somewhere else. 

Marin told The Global Observer she uses Zeemo to translate English words and create captions, “That’s helpful with making sure that my content is inclusive to everybody.”

“I go through my comments, copy them into Google Translate, and respond back. If someone writes in English, I reply in both English and Chinese, but if they comment in Chinese, I respond in Chinese,” she said. “This way, it’s inclusive and even offers those interested a chance to learn a bit of English.”

Marin described her hit as “surprising.” “It took me probably two years to get to that amount[of view]  on TikTok. Here it’s been literally five days since I downloaded Rednote,” she shared. So far, over 220k users followed her, and 490k+ likes/collects her posts.

Other popular posts featured U.S. users offering to help Chinese users with their English homework. But discussions extend far more than that. 

An American user asked, “Dear Chinese people, why do you guys like Luigi so much?” Luigi Mangione, the suspect charged in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

The most-liked response, shown first, said, “Because his story is in line with the ancient Chinese chivalrous spirit- sacrifice one’s own life for morality.” 

In this community migration party, it’s probably the first time that users from the U.S. and China interact directly at a large scale, engaging in topics such as work, housing and education through person-to-person conversations rather than the government’s propaganda.

As the conversation unfolds, warmth and connections transcend across seas. Neumann likened the cyber moving to visiting someone else’s home, “We’re guests in your house. When you come to visit, I want us to offer the same warmth and hospitality in return,” he said.

Why do they stay?

Designed as a lifestyle platform, Rednote is particularly popular among young women as a de-facto search engine for product reviews, travel tips and restaurant recommendations. Techcrunch reported that 79% of active users are women.

While steadily growing since its launch in 2013, Rednote experienced its most significant surge in popularity during the pandemic, according to AP. Previously, Rednote made several attempts to enter overseas markets with independent apps but saw limited success. 

The recent migration of TikTok users, driven by privacy concerns and bans in the U.S., has presented a turning point for the platform. Creators are now taking Rednote as a more stable alternative.

Unlike TikTok, Rednote’s interface does not automatically play videos upon opening the app- users must log in to begin using the platform. In addition, it shows videos, photos and text in a grid format instead of one video at a time.

Many creators feel TikTok’s algorithm favors specific types of content or established creators, leaving new voices or niche topics overshadowed. In contrast, platforms like RedNote appear to provide a more level playing field, pushing diverse content to broader audiences. 

In this platform, the number of followers is not the key factor in determining traffic. It’s easy to find big influencers only receiving a few dozen likes, while smaller creators with interesting content can garner thousands of interactions. 

This interest-driven mechanism allows new voices to gain visibility without being overshadowed by dominant influencers, potentially reducing algorithmic frustration.

Behind the algorithm lies the community culture. Users have been drawn to platforms where cultural exchange and global connections are celebrated. Rednote’s app store description highlights its value to “share life, connect the world.”

“I’ve experienced nothing but kindness for Rednote. I think that whoever owns it does a really good job making sure that there’s friendly, welcoming content and no rudeness or people flaunting their wealth,” Marin said.

Although Rednote’s future remains unknown once all the enthusiasm fades away, it has created a rare opportunity for people from the U.S. and China to connect. 

Influencers like Marin and Neumann are considering a long-term use of RedNote.

“I do enjoy traveling and different cultures and learning new things and obviously, now I’ve made hundreds of friends,” Neumann said.