A rare wave of U.S.-China camaraderie broke out online in recent days as “refugees” from the popular short video platform TikTok poured onto a Chinese social media platform to protest a now-delayed ban on the service.

The Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, also referred to as RedNote in English, has sprung to supremacy as the top free app on iPhone as the ban on TikTok took effect Sunday, drawing the ire of U.

Xiaohongshu, whose name literally means "little red book" but is also known in English as RedNote, is wildly popular in its home market -- one of the most censored countries in the world. This contradiction makes the app's sudden popularity among U.S. users both puzzling and potentially troubling for Xiaohongshu.