Mining China’s ‘Little Pink E book’ for Open Supply Gold

The challenges of conducting open-source analysis in China are well-documented. Persistently named one of many most digitally oppressive nations on this planet, China blocks a few of the world’s largest social media platforms, similar to Fb, Google, and YouTube. These which might be nonetheless accessible are largely Chinese language-owned, strictly regulated and monitored in actual time by AI techniques in addition to tens of hundreds of “web police”. 

However regardless of these strict controls, Chinese language apps – which boast greater than a billion estimated customers – stay an data goldmine for investigative journalists masking tales each inside and out of doors China.

Since most international websites are banned, Chinese language platforms are the most important useful resource out there to journalists and researchers involved in what’s occurring on this planet’s second-most populous nation. Even when a subject is being censored, patterns within the censorship can themselves function investigative leads: a 2020 BuzzFeed Information investigation, for instance, mapped out detention camps in Xinjiang by analyzing areas that had been blanked out on China’s Baidu Maps.

With tens of millions of Chinese language individuals residing abroad, social media exercise by members of the diaspora may also flip into world tales.

Serial rapist Zou Zhenhao, a Chinese language PhD pupil, was jailed in London final yr after one in every of his victims posted a warning on Xiaohongshu, also called Little Pink E book or Rednote, an app common with younger Chinese language girls residing overseas. One other lady Zou had raped reached out to the unique poster, who put her in contact with the police – resulting in the conviction of a person described by police as presumably one of many worst sexual predators in British historical past.

Based in 2013 as a Hong Kong procuring information, Xiaohongshu has advanced into a way of life and e-commerce platform that has been in contrast with Instagram, Pinterest and Amazon. Final yr, it reported about 300 million month-to-month lively customers, rivalling a few of China’s largest social media platforms.

The app’s 600 million every day searches by the tip of 2024 additionally accounted for half of market chief Baidu’s search quantity, demonstrating that it’s rising as a essential search and discovery engine, not only a social platform.

Though primarily a Chinese language-language app, Xiaohongshu gained consideration within the English-speaking world final yr, when tens of millions of American TikTok customers flocked to the platform in anticipation of a TikTok ban underneath US President Donald Trump. 

Responding to the surge of worldwide customers – sparked by the #TikTokRefugees development – Xiaohongshu rolled out an AI-powered translation function, making the app extra accessible to non-Chinese language audiences. This additionally meant that journalists with out Chinese language language expertise can extra simply talk on and navigate the platform.

Regardless of its rising reputation each inside and out of doors China, the app is comparatively new and underexplored in comparison with extra well-established platforms similar to Weibo. 

This information goals to supply a place to begin for these seeking to discover Xiaohongshu for open-source investigations, together with an summary of its important person demographics, potential subjects to discover and strategic search strategies particular to the app. 

Person Demographics and Subjects

In keeping with Xiaohongshu’s official knowledge, the platform’s demographic profile is principally younger, feminine and concrete. As of 2024, 70 % of its customers have been girls, with half of all customers belonging to Gen Z and residing in China’s largest cities. 

As beforehand talked about, the app has additionally gained reputation with the Chinese language diaspora. Many Chinese language nationals residing overseas use it as a search engine for native data, posting and trying to find content material associated to their every day lives, from restaurant suggestions and condo looking to navigating international bureaucracies and discovering group sources. 

This demographic profile makes Xiaohongshu notably well-suited for investigating tales about client fraud and concrete livability points. For instance, Chinese language retailers like Jiemian have used Xiaohongshu posts to reveal the grey-market ecosystem of paid opinions and faux endorsements tied to the platform’s e-commerce mannequin, whereas in 2022, Worldwide Monetary Information traced a mother-and-baby retailer rip-off that defrauded over 400 dad and mom again to product advice posts on the platform.

Given its predominantly feminine person base, Xiaohongshu has additionally advanced into one in every of China’s most vital areas for feminist discourse and girls’s points. Educational researchers have used content material on the platform to analyse native discussions on menstrual shaming, sexual harassment, and the controversial “divorce cooling-off interval” launched in 2021. As Remainder of World reported, girls have more and more congregated on Xiaohongshu, the place they outnumber male customers and have discovered methods to trick the app’s advice algorithm so their posts are proven largely to different girls.

The Relevance of Censorship

Political content material and present affairs about China are largely absent from the app – a results of each lively censorship and platform design. 

All Chinese language social media platforms, together with Xiaohongshu, function underneath strict content material moderation necessities from the Our on-line world Administration of China. A leaked 143-page inside doc revealed by China Digital Instances in 2022 revealed how Xiaohongshu censors reply to authorities directives in “real-time”, blocking content material associated to politically delicate subjects similar to criticism of the Chinese language Communist Celebration, labour strikes and pupil suicides. Xiaohongshu’s industrial focus additionally makes it much less doubtless that these subjects can be mentioned on the platform: as Remainder of World reported, the platform features much less like Weibo – a public sq. for present occasions – and extra like “a large mall, the place buyers inform one another what to purchase”.

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The Challenges of Conducting Open Supply Analysis on China

Protection of worldwide affairs can be tightly managed: solely state-owned or state-controlled information organisations can acquire licences to publish authentic information content material. Nonetheless, content material about life overseas, notably tales about the price of residing, healthcare, or social issues in Western nations, circulates extra freely on platforms together with Xiaohongshu, and supply journalists with perception into how Chinese language diaspora communities have interaction with native political techniques. 

For instance, when the 2025 Miss Finland was accused of creating anti-Asian gestures, trying to find “芬兰小姐” (Miss Finland) and “投诉” (criticism) on Xiaohongshu revealed a trove of collective motion: customers shared completely different criticism pathways, posted templates for submitting studies, and documented varied outcomes from their complaints. 

For such large-scale public occasions, Xiaohongshu will be each an organising platform and a wealthy supply for monitoring how diaspora communities coordinate responses to discrimination, offering journalists with perception into grassroots activism and transnational advocacy networks.

Getting Began

Xiaohongshu is on the market for obtain on each Apple’s App Retailer and Google Play worldwide, or will be accessed through a internet browser. In worldwide app shops, the app seems underneath the identify “RedNote,” however this is similar software as Xiaohongshu – content material and accounts are shared throughout each. The important thing distinction is that RedNote customers who register with abroad telephone numbers are mechanically tagged as worldwide customers, which impacts the content material the algorithm surfaces to them.

For customers who obtain the app exterior mainland China, Xiaohongshu mechanically detects the system language and site. Upon first login, worldwide customers are prompted with an choice to mechanically translate all content material into English (or their system language). If enabled, posts and feedback will show with translations by default, and the algorithm will prioritise English-language content material and posts created by or for worldwide customers, similar to expat influencers.

For researchers and journalists in search of to look at the platform as Chinese language customers expertise it, contemplate disabling automated translation. This lets you see content material because it natively seems and helps you distinguish between posts created for worldwide audiences versus these created for home customers – a distinction that issues when assessing how consultant your pattern is for the related matter.

The default residence feed, or the “Discover” tab, is the place the algorithm surfaces content material primarily based in your engagement historical past, location and person profile. The feed makes use of a grid format displaying publish thumbnails with titles and like counts.

On the highest proper nook of the display, the search bar additionally permits key phrase searches throughout posts, customers and subjects. Outcomes will be filtered by content material kind (e.g. notes, movies, customers or merchandise) and sorted by relevance or recency.

Utilizing the Search Bar

Xiaohongshu’s search perform is comparatively fundamental. You may search by key phrases and filter by time and site, however the choices are basic: time filters embody “previous day,” “previous week,” or “previous six months,” whereas location filters provide “similar metropolis” or “close by”. 

For instance, looking “Canada” returns posts tagged with that key phrase, which you’ll then type by recency or proximity. 

For breaking information occasions, strive looking location names or names of people concerned within the incident, filtering for the newest posts to seize real-time reactions and on-the-ground accounts earlier than they’re censored or deleted.

Xiaohongshu primarily makes use of algorithms to curate and push content material via personalised feeds. For journalists utilizing Xiaohongshu for investigative functions, it may be helpful to actively seek for subjects of curiosity to coach your algorithm – the extra you search and have interaction with particular content material, the extra related posts the algorithm will floor to you.

Nonetheless, in case you are researching the platform itself – learning what content material Xiaohongshu promotes, how censorship operates, or what narratives dominate – chances are you’ll need to begin from a clear slate. In that case, contemplate periodically turning off personalised suggestions (Settings → Privateness Settings → Personalisation Choices), clearing your searching historical past, clearing cached knowledge, or utilizing a contemporary account to look at what the platform reveals to a “impartial” person.

Language and Lingo

Throughout the inflow of “TikTok refugees” in January 2025, Xiaohongshu launched a translation function for customers exterior mainland China, enabling the automated translation of feedback and posts. 

Nonetheless, this doesn’t translate search queries. The platform’s search engine continues to be optimised for Chinese language, although there’s a “prioritise English” filter for abroad customers, and looking in English will return some outcomes.

However the language you search in shapes excess of simply your outcomes – it determines which model of the platform you see. Whenever you search in English or use a world account, the algorithm treats you as a international person and surfaces content material accordingly: influencers explaining why they love residing in China, comparisons exhibiting Chinese language life favourably towards the West. 

This isn’t a impartial cross-section of the platform – it’s a curated bubble. To entry what Chinese language customers truly talk about amongst themselves, it will be simpler to look in simplified Chinese language and, ideally, use a China-registered account you probably have entry to 1. For those who don’t learn Chinese language, you too can think about using a translation software (Google Translate, DeepL, or an AI assistant) to transform your search phrases into simplified Chinese language earlier than coming into them.

Regardless of such instruments and the in-app translation function, it’s at all times helpful when researching utilizing Chinese language platforms to work with a local speaker conversant in the native context. They will flag when an innocuous-seeming time period truly carries hidden that means, and assist establish coded conversations a couple of censored matter.

On Xiaohongshu particularly, this coded language extends past political subjects to incorporate something the platform’s algorithm may flag as “vulgar” or promotional. For instance, customers substitute fruits and impartial phrases for physique elements or sexual content material to keep away from being flagged as inappropriate – the peach emoji for buttocks, or 炒菜 (“cooking”) for express materials. They could additionally use abbreviations and emojis for industrial phrases to evade anti-marketing filters, similar to “vx” (the abbreviation of how WeChat is pronounced in Chinese language) or “绿” (“plus inexperienced”, apparently referring to WeChat’s inexperienced emblem) for WeChat, or “米” (rice) or the moneybag emoji for cash.

Superior Search Methods

For extra refined looking, think about using third-party advertising analytics instruments like Xinhong and Qiangu, which might present trending subjects, common posts and engagement metrics, in addition to establish key content material creators posting about particular topics. 

For instance, on Xinhong, whenever you seek for “Canada” in Chinese language, it additionally reveals present trending associated searches similar to “加拿大总理” (Canadian Prime Minister). Clicking via these ideas results in current posts—for instance, posts about Mark Carney’s newest statements at Davos, together with person feedback and reactions.

Whereas these instruments are designed for entrepreneurs, they supply journalists with helpful capabilities: monitoring how subjects evolve, figuring out influential voices in particular communities, and discovering associated hashtags or discussions which may not floor via fundamental platform search. These instruments typically require paid subscriptions however can considerably improve analysis effectivity for long-term investigations.

One other helpful function is Xiaohongshu’s group chat perform, the place customers collect round shared key phrases and subjects—from city-specific communities to area of interest pursuits. These teams are sometimes extremely lively and supply entry to candid group discussions that don’t seem in public posts. To seek out related teams, go to Messages → Group Sq., the place you possibly can browse classes or search by key phrase and request to affix.

Monitoring lively group chats associated to related subjects, whether or not that’s a particular metropolis, trade, or concern, may also help journalists and researchers keep up to date on rising points and detect potential story leads earlier than they turn out to be extensively seen on public feeds.

Preserving the Proof

Chinese language social media content material can disappear shortly and with out warning because of censorship, making rapid preservation essential. 

At all times take two preservation steps instantly upon discovering related content material:

First, screenshot your entire publish, together with the URL, timestamp, username, like/remark counts, and site tags. These metrics set up context and authenticity. Use instruments that seize full-page screenshots fairly than simply seen parts, as posts will be lengthy and feedback in depth. Second, archive the net web page utilizing providers like archive.at present or Wayback Machine. Word that these providers seize solely static content material – feedback and engagement metrics will not be totally preserved and needs to be screenshotted individually.

For Xiaohongshu particularly, at all times protect the person’s distinctive ID discovered of their profile URL when seen on a browser, which follows the format “person/profile/[unique ID]”. Customers can change their show names, however this distinctive identifier stays fixed, permitting you to trace accounts over time even after identify modifications. That is essential for long-term investigations or when monitoring particular sources.

Xiaohongshu operates underneath the identical authorized and censorship constraints as all Chinese language social media platforms, and researchers ought to strategy it with acceptable warning. Content material moderation is in depth: customers who publish about delicate topics danger having their content material eliminated or their accounts suspended, and the platform is required to adjust to authorities knowledge requests. For researchers, this implies the data you discover represents solely what has survived the censorship course of.

That stated, Xiaohongshu stays a remarkably wealthy useful resource for open-source analysis. Its power lies exactly in its apolitical, lifestyle-oriented id: whereas political dialogue is suppressed, candid conversations about on a regular basis life flourish. For journalists prepared to put money into studying the platform’s rhythms, constructing Chinese language-language search expertise, and understanding its coded vocabularies, Xiaohongshu provides a window into how strange Chinese language individuals speak amongst themselves – an space that continues to be largely untapped by worldwide media.

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