STORY: “Welcome to Chinese social media’ says Paul Ashton, an American influencer in China who is no stranger to ‘Red Note’, the social media platform known in China as Xiaohongshu.This week, a person close to the platform told Reuters more than half a million American users piled into the platform in protest of an imminent ban on Tiktok.Ashton is based in Shanghai, but online he goes by Baobaoxiong – literally, ‘hug hug bear’ – and his videos have billions of views.He was excited to see the surge of so-called ‘TikTok refugees’ as a foreigner in China and RedNote veteran.”I have loved seeing the way, the enthusiasm and the joy at which I’ve seen a lot of Chinese netizens engaging with people that are English speakers. Like, one of my favorite memes I’ve seen so far is just like, “hello, Americans, show us your cats!” Like, if there’s one thing that binds the internet, it’s that we all love cat pictures, you know?”While China has for years tightly controlled its cyberspace through its “Great Firewall” – and Chinese social media platforms have in the past run separate domestic and abroad versions of their apps, RedNote is unique as it only maintains one version of its app and it gives both Chinese and American users a rare opportunity to interact directly with each other.”I’m not sure how many of the new users will actually stick around and hang out. But I hope that they do.””Because I think that that would be a really important shift in cultural exchange that for the first time in a long time, puts the ball in China’s court a little bit more. But then even more specifically, puts the ball in the hands of Chinese people in China.”In China, RedNote as a platform is popular for finding recommendations for beauty, travel or food.On Wednesday many of its users posted selfies and messages welcoming new American users.Though Beijing-based academic Liu Xingliang, who studies the digital economy, says RedNote was caught unprepared.”It is an accident. But since it is an accident, it is actually good for them, and there also may be certain risks. If they want to catch this wave of prosperity, I think they may have to do at least a few things. The first thing is to make your interface and UI more friendly.””It is the first time that a large number of people have had such a very large-scale exchange, and the exchanges between the two sides are relaxed and enthusiastic. From what I’ve seen, they were all learning about each other’s living habits, local conditions and customs.”There were also signs that some new foreign users were testing the platform’s censorship limits with some posting on social media network X that they were unable to post about topics known to be sensitive in China such as the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.For now – China’s welcoming the migration of TikTokers to RedNote with open arms.Chinese state media CCTV ran reports saying that TikTok users had found a “new home”.And China’s foreign ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday the use of social media is a “personal choice”, and China “encourages and supports” people-to-people exchanges.