#redbook

being on this app is so surreal. americans are usually the ones that learn about other places and people everywhere else already know about america because we're everywhere online. we've never been on the opposite side where other people are learning about us -- and they are horrified about our "normal"

a woman made a post on tiktok talking about li hua, a pseudonym students in china learning english would write under to american “pen pals.” these letters were never sent. apparently it was crazy common, hundreds of letters have been written from li hua.

and people have started saying they feel like li hua is getting a response.

this woman posted this on tiktok and the comments were full of people writing responses, apologizing to li hua for not being in touch for so long. and one american mentioned how when they were a kid they dug holes in the beach and thought if they dug deep enough they could reach china all the way on the other side of the world, and that just awoke some MEMORIES. like, i did that. i dug holes in the sand and wondered how close i was. “as children we dug holes at the beach to try to get to you. we wondered what you’d be like our whole lives.”

the same woman made a post talking about THAT on redbook, saying it feels like we’ve both been just struggling to reach each other for so long. “i suddenly realize, this meeting was actually a two way effort. it’s like you’ve done a lot of hard work and come a long way before a date, and the wait was too long that you gradually started to forget the original intention of embarking on this road, and began to doubt, is your date real? suddenly one day, they really appeared in front of you and tell you i also made an effort to see you. and that’s a wonderful thing.”

The Kiddie Criminal | Redbook: January 1953

A trend on xiaohongshu is Chinese citizens asking if things they’ve been taught is real or anti-American propaganda. So far? It’s all true. Stuff like:

• Public transit costs more than $1

• Mothers being charged to hold their baby after birth in a hospital

• Having to personally pay for an ambulance

• Being taxed on regular purchases as you make them or even having to pay taxes on a house that you own

• College education leaving people with so much debt they never get free of it

• Groceries costing 25% of someone’s usual income

What I know

Ni hǎo - Hello

Zǎo shang hǎo - Good morning

Nǐ zui jin zen me - How have you been?

Wo de ming zi - My name

Ni ne - And you?

Xiè xiè - Thank you

Zai jian - Good bye

Yes, it's basic but I'm happy to know this much. The apps I'm using are Chinese skill and Busuu!

There is a specific brand of 1960s optimism that suggests three grown adults can comfortably share one standard-sized umbrella without anyone’s shoulder becoming a localized swamp. This is "High Fashion Weather": the kind of rain that is perfectly backlit, aesthetically pleasing, and apparently made of sparkling cider rather than cold city soot. I particularly admire the commitment of the woman on the left; she’s reached the level of joy usually reserved for winning the lottery or finally figuring out how to thread a film projector on the first try. Meanwhile, Gingham Girl on the right is one strong gust of wind away from a very stylish Mary Poppins exit.