Ready to Translate Your China Travel WTFs! Lay It On Me.

[Lorraine Rau]

Hey everyone, I have a question for my fellow brothers and sisters in Taiwan:

• When you browse on Xiaohongshu (that popular app used by many young people to share beauty tips, food reviews, travel recommendations, fashion tips and even their opinions about dramas, similar to a mix of Instargram and Pinterest with much information for daily life),

• and compare it with the impression of “mainland China” you get from the news media,

• do these two sources give you the same impression? Or is there quite a big difference?

  • Can it be that all you'd see on Xiaohongshu is fun events, delicious food, top attractions, hot products, as well as fancy lifestyles? (Remind again, contents posted on this application are often overly embellished. Just take a look don't take it too seriously since reality might turn out different.)

  • And the China you see in the news, could you feel it like two parallel worlds?

It's just because information from different sources may represent different perspectives, here I just want to know how you truly feel.

#Taiwan #MainlandChina #Food #Beauty #Recipes #Travel #Drama #EmpressesinthePalace #Entertainment

[Leland Erdman]

I've seen those Taiwanese media reports before, and they're pretty funny.

[Courtney Hickle Jr.]

Apparently, we can't even afford tea eggs.

[Marcos Goodwin]

No need to send me tea eggs; please send SunnyHills [pineapple cakes] instead, thanks!

[Hazel Brown-Stracke]

Seconded! I love this brand of pineapple cakes too!!!!!

[Zachary Hayes]

A new way to gain traction: exploiting regional conflicts.

[Morris Schneider]

My Taiwanese friends, how about sponsoring me a pack of zha cai (pickled mustard greens)?

[Lucia Feest]

As a Beijinger, I can confirm we only use tunnels. The roads aren't safe~

[Alejandro Runolfsdottir]

That's right.

[Rosemarie Sawayn PhD]

I was hanging out on QQ and YY over 10 years ago. How could I not know?

[Karen Bruen]

Such a troll.

[Hannah Rogahn]

Hahahahaha

[Ms. Wanda Kilback]

See? There's a Taiwanese IP right below you.

[Faye O'Conner]

It's not quite the same. Life on Xiaohongshu seems too perfect. Social media mostly showcases people who are doing well; those who aren't usually don't post.

[Ms. Alberta Moen]

No wonder I find Xiaohongshu so positive and cheerful.

[Brenda Shanahan]

Actually, everyone code-switches. Taiwanese users on Xiaohongshu ('Little Red Book') will also be 'villagers' on PTT. It's like 'speak to people in their language, and to devils in theirs' – you adapt to your audience.