An American social media user has told of the "overwhelming kindness and friendliness" he has experienced on Chinese social media platform RedNote, or Xiaohongshu, saying its interesting content and surprisingly engaging atmosphere has been unlike anything else seen on the internet.
Due to concerns over a looming ban on the popular TikTok short video platform in the U.S., many American social media users who described themselves as "TikTok refugees" have flocked over to the Chinese platform RedNote recently.
The surprising influx of new users has seen Chinese and American people connecting, breaking down barriers, and promoting intercultural communication, with the RedNote app becoming an unexpected platform for such people-to-people exchanges.
In an interview with the China Global Television Network (CGTN) on Tuesday, Jaybill McCarthy, a U.S.-based content creator who also made the move to RedNote, shared aspects of Chinese culture he has enjoyed learning about and discovering via the app.
"One [is the] spectacular food. The food looks absolutely amazing. Chinese people have posted a lot of recipes, and lately they've been asking Americans to sort of try these recipes. So I decided to give it a go, and I made a couple of videos of me cooking Chinese recipes that I saw. So far I did 'hong shao rou' (braised pork), 'ji dan geng' (steamed egg custard). It was really funny with the pork, people were like, there's no way that a foreigner is making that, like no-one could believe that I did it," he said.
McCarthy also noted his fascination with China's Spring Festival, the country's most important annual holiday which celebrates the Chinese New Year. With the Year of the Snake beginning on Wednesday, McCarthy said he has been struck by the various cultural aspects, including how the Chinese people express their blessings in such an elegant manner.
"[The Chinese phrase] 'May all your wishes come true.' I just think that's such a fantastic way to wish someone and to start a new year with just like: 'May all your wishes come true.' And the other one was something to the effect of: 'May you get all the money.' I love that idea of how, instead of just saying 'Happy New Year,' there's specific intent about it, and I just thought that was so beautiful and so poetic," he said.
Moreover, McCarthy says he has been impressed and touched by the friendly and positive atmosphere he has encountered on RedNote, especially the way users connect and interact with him, which he says stands in sharp contrast to the often volatile and divisive experience elsewhere online.
"Just the overwhelming kindness and friendliness that I've experienced (on RedNote), it doesn't feel like the internet. It's been really amazing and really humbling to see how kind people have been. (On) American social media, it's really hard to get anybody to engage with you and to make comments on your posts and to like your things and what have you. And that just started happening immediately [on RedNote], immediately people were interested. Everybody was really trying to find out as much as they can and be curious. And I think that was really unusual. I've not seen that before," he said.
US social media user surprised by kind, engaging atmosphere on RedNote
