With the U.S. ban on TikTok looming, many Americans are opting for another Chinese app known as RedNote. It could be short-lived.

In the days leading up to a proposed US government ban on the social media platform TikTok, American users have turned to another Chinese-owned app, Xiaohongshu.

As TikTok’s ban in the United States looms, hundreds of thousands of young people are reportedly flocking to a Chinese social media platform that a Pentagon-designated “Chinese military company” owns a substantial stake in.

I picked my "interests" — all in Mandarin — based on vibes, and yet still Red Note seems to have me figured out already. My Explore page suggested videos from food creator Nick DiGiovanni, Cardi B and Lucky Blue Smith. (Note: Page verification is bound to be slow, so beware of fake celebrity accounts in the interim.)

In the "TikTokCringe" subreddit, a video from a RedNote user with red eyes, presumably swollen from tears, suggested that Americans had possibly ruined the app for Chinese Americans who rely on RedNote to stay current on Chinese news and culture.

The app that Americans are flocking to as a TikTok alternative is Xiaohongshu, or RedNote, which translates to “Little Red Book.” This name carries significant historical weight, as it alludes to Mao Zedong’s Little Red Book, a mandatory collection of his quotes and philosophies that symbolized the Cultural Revolution in China.

Marcus Robinson, a 29-year-old fashion designer, created a Red Note account to share his thrifting adventures and promote his clothing company, P-13. He previously had accrued 21,000 followers on TikTok, and estimates that 40% of his brand’s sales came from that app. “I thought I was going to keep building and make a living ultimately,” he says.

With a TikTok U.S. ban looming, American users are downloading an alternative: Chinese-owned social app Xiaohongshu, aka "Red Note."

The data suggests an even larger shift to RedNote by U.S. users this week than was previously known, explaining its dramatic rise to the top of U.S. app store download rankings. R

With the U.S. ban on TikTok looming, many Americans are opting for another Chinese app known as RedNote. It could be short-lived.

The deliberate choice to seek refuge on another app of Chinese origin says what TikTok’s users think of the plan to ban it in five days’ time. The Supreme Court and the U.S. government seem hell-bent on pushing TikTok out of existence in the United States in the next week—at least unless its Chinese-based parent company,