'Indispensable' Xiaohongshu app fuels Chinese tourism
Competition is fierce for professional photographers at Beijing’s tourist hotspots, including a scenic lake where women in flowy traditional robes pose for snaps to share on Xiaohongshu, China’s massively popular lifestyle app.
The platform, which is reportedly preparing to file to go public as soon as this year, has shaken up the tourism industry in China, where domestic travel is booming to record levels.
Known as RedNote in English, Xiaohongshu’s interface is similar to the U.S. social network Pinterest, but it is sometimes nicknamed “China’s Instagram” as users can post photos, videos and even livestream.
Travellers use the app to discover new destinations and plan their itineraries around photogenic locations, like the lake in the capital’s historic Shichahai area, one of many “daka” or “check-in” spots where Xiaohongshu is driving even more footfall.
