When it appeared TikTok was going to go dark on Jan. 19 after years of back and forth legal and political wrangling (President Trump reversed the ban, at least for the time being after his auguration), thousands of American TikTok users sought refuge in Xiaohongshu — “Rednote” in English — ironically scurrying into a Chinese social networking app backed by the government the U.S. officials fear. In a few days, over 700,000 so-called TikTok refugees flooded into the app and infiltrated the Rednote community as never before.
The migration served as an outlet for users to indirectly protest the policy decision, which drew support from Republicans and Democrats in Congress. Instead of expressing their disregard for the China government’s collection of personal information, many users were instead more concerned about politicians’ attempt to strip users of their freedom of speech.
Immediately, these so-called refugees became charmed by the Chinese language as they engaged with Chinese media. To mitigate the language barrier, users headed promptly to Duolingo to pick up the basics of Mandarin. According to Duolingo, the company experienced a sharp 216% spike in U.S. users learning Mandarin compared to the same period last year.
The company jokingly referenced this spike in an X post on Jan. 14, the thread “oh so NOW you’re learning Mandarin,” receiving 16.2 million views as of late January. Likewise, Americans were met with requests to assist with English homework, prompting cross-cultural exchanges between the two countries.
In addition to the language barrier, refugees also began to discern social differences, such as the accessible prices of health care and groceries. Users have also heavily commented on the humor of Chinese Rednote users, with many making insensitive statements such as “They’re funny too!” or “They’re just like us!”
These satirical statements expose a disturbing truth: The distrust of all things related to China implanted into U.S. citizens has left Americans shocked when they witness Chinese people accessing basic needs. It’s almost as if the American people are living in a realm of dystopia where they cannot fathom that Chinese people are capable of living a reasonably luxurious life.
But this reaction is not limited to China alone — it is a symptom of a larger issue: the deeply ingrained belief in American cultural superiority. For decades, U.S. media has framed America as the pinnacle of progress, freedom and innovation while portraying non-Western nations as inherently inferior. While this belief is well founded in the context of politics, it ignores the rich culture and traditions of the Chinese people themselves, separate from their often repressive government.
When Americans see people in these countries thriving in ways that contradict these stereotypes, they often react in disbelief, explaining their first impressions of Rednote. Ultimately, this mindset goes so much further than simply distorting perceptions of China — it reinforces a broader, flawed narrative of America as the only nation capable of prosperity, inhibiting Americans from recognizing the true progress of the world around them.
Whether subtle or not, there is so much xenophobia and sinophobia in Western media. Chinese culture is misunderstood, overlooked and feared in the West, due to stereotypes that Western media perpetuates around the Chinese people. The label “Made in China” is still perceived with a negative sentiment, when factories all over the world continue to pump out cheap products at scale. While Americans have outwardly showered the Chinese in immense praise and admiration, their response to the TikTok ban directly lends to their underlying and repressed Sinophobia.
Ever since TikTok escaped being banned — at least for now — most Americans have returned to routine. Even though the cultural exchange was very short-lived, the migration has served as an eye-opening learning curve for many Americans, exposing them to media from a whole new side of the world they were previously unaware of.
To be better world citizens, Americans must work on dismantling stereotypes surrounding Chinese culture and people at a societal and cultural level and recognize how advanced and ordinary the Chinese community is. That way, encountering real Chinese people for the first time on an app won’t feel like an eye-opening revelation.
