Why Young Chinese Tourists Visit Places in Masses: There’s an Explanation

A lot tourists The Chinese, especially the youngest, participated in a curious practice that changed the way they live. travel abroad .

For them, visiting a city’s most famous attractions is not obligatory. Instead They choose to go to hidden places that generally go unnoticed by locals. and they are ideal for being depicted in a photograph.

Among these “little-known” places that have now become attractive are the basketball courts of Kennedy Town Playground located in Hong Kong. The site does not arouse interest for its basketball games, but for its impressive view of the city.

But what is this phenomenon due to?

The answer is Xiaohongshu . THE application often called the Chinese version of Instagram, has seen explosive growth in recent years and become the Favorite travel guide for thousands of Asian tourists looking for new places to visit during their vacation .

For years, China has blocked access to Western social networks like Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube and Google. For this same reason, the Asian country has created its own platforms, including WeChat, Douyin, Sina Weibo and Xiaohongshu.

Xiaohongshu, which translates to “the little red book,” was born as a platform where Chinese users could share their shopping experiences. It was created by Charlwin Mao and Miranda Qu in 2013 and now has more than 300 million registered users, according to Qian Gua.

Its model, based on creating user content while building trust with other people who are looking for honest recommendations about a product, is what has brought the platform to prominence recently.

Among its functions are live broadcasting and viewing, publishing photos and videos, creating reviews, searching for topics and products by hashtags and purchasing on the platform.

Its content generally focuses on fashion, lifestyle, beauty, technology and especially travel . In recent times, other themes such as sports, technology and home have also been added, in order to diversify the type of users who access the “little red book”.

China is a crucial country for the travel industry, given that it has a population of over 1.4 billion. In fact, in 2023, it has regained its position as the country that spends the most on international tourism: Chinese spending in this area reached $196.5 billion, surpassing that of the United States.

The problem is that its residents cannot access restricted platforms and easily discover other international destinations. This is where Xiaohongshu emerges, which has become a sort of travel “bible” for Chinese tourists and also a powerful digital commerce tool.

As described cnn , The importance of this application lies in the fact that it has transformed uncrowded places, which Western tourists do not usually visit, into popular attractions for tourists from China.

The images taken in these destinations are precisely what makes them popular and makes others want to visit them, which is linked to what is known as “daka tourism”. The term refers to going to a trendy destination and proving that you went there by posting about it on social media.

Some of the points that have attracted interest thanks to Xiaohongshu are Black Square a space in the Superkilen urban park in Copenhagen; a bench in Central Park in New York where the Taiwanese musician Jay Chou and a railway junction in Kamakura in Tokyo, specifies the American channel.

Xiaohongshu is also characterized by other advantages that other applications like Instagram fail to have in depth. And the travel posts that users create within the platform typically contain tips, itineraries, lists and detailed reviews of accommodations and restaurants in the cities they visit, accompanied by images that make them appealing, the site reports. Rest of the world .

“Xiaohongshu has become a platform where (Chinese travelers) can learn what they can do that they didn’t know before” Asia travel and tourism analyst Gary Bowerman told the aforementioned media outlets.

The “little red book” is mainly used by young Chinese: more than 90% of its users are under 32 years old rescue Forbes . It is more popular among those living in urban areas and abroad, who have high purchasing power and tend to make frequent purchases.

The Xiaohongshu community is predominantly made up of women, representing 80% of users. The male audience has also gradually increased in recent years.