Letters from 'Li Hua' receive heartfelt replies from U.S. netizens as they move to RedNote from TikTok

As TikTok goes dark in U.S. and suspended app within the country, some U.S. users on Xiaohongshu, or “RedNote,” have been found engaging in exchanges with Chinese users that go beyond sharing cooking and farming tips or swapping cat pictures on the platform. Some U.S. users have started replying to "Li Hua," a name commonly used in Chinese middle school English exams.

For decades, writing letters in English exams to an imaginary English-speaking foreign pen pal on behalf of "Li Hua" has been a common practice for Chinese middle school students. These letters, often describing life in Chinese students’ hometowns or personal interests, would traditionally conclude with the hopeful line, "I am looking forward to your reply." Now, they finally get replies.

One response came from a U.S. user named Miranda who shared a post on Xiaohongshu featuring both Chinese and English, along with an image of her handwritten reply in Chinese characters. 

Her message reads: “My dearest Li Hua, I apologize for taking so long to write back. I never read your letters, but they have blessed my life. I no longer feel alone now that I know we travel the world side by side. Every day when I wake up and go through my routine, it will be easier for me to know that you are doing the same. I am happy to know that even if we never meet, we will always be friends. Thank you for your letter and your friendship! Your pen pal. Miranda.”

32-year-old Miranda, who comes from California, told the Global Times on Sunday that she learned about Li Hua’s story on TikTok. “When I heard about the assignments, I couldn’t help but cry.” She has spent over an hour handwriting her reply, saying, “I wanted to show the same dedication as the students who wrote with foreign characters, to show how much it meant to me.”

“This feels like such a special experience that will directly affect my life in an amazing way!” she added.

Miranda said she has learned that TikTok was suspended in the U.S.. “We hope that it will be overturned but even if it isn’t I plan to stay here [on Xiaohongshu]. Miranda’s post quickly went viral, garnering 100,000 likes and over 10,000 comments on Xiaohongshu as of Sunday afternoon. 

The Xiaohongshu user, who goes by “Theflyonyourscreen,” with the introduction on the account reading “a TikTok refugee from lo western U.S.” has also posted a handwritten reply to Li Hua. 

She told the Global Times that she knew the letters from Chinese students were written by hand. So she wants to “honor the sincerity of those handwritten letters of scholarly dedication” with her own message, with mistakes and errors preserved.

“Part of why I wrote this was also to tap into this new, encouraging zeitgeist of connection across cultures and the possibilities present: the reply is not about the past, but an invitation to embark on a new future path and share a new relationship together,” the 32 year-old from Oregon shared.

On China’s X-like platform Weibo, the hashtag “U.S. netizens reply to Li Hua” has also been trending, garnering more than 6.4 million views. 

The heartfelt gesture has sparked a wave of nostalgia and warmth among Chinese netizens, many of whom are reminiscing about their own days of writing those exam letters on behalf of Li Hua when they were middle school students or reflecting on their youth.

“Suddenly, it feels like I’m seeing my younger self, racking my brain over how to write these letters before every exam many years ago,” read a Weibo comment.

Others expressed that they felt “healed” and “warmed” by the transcontinental act of friendship. “I think this is an ideal of a global village,” a Weibo user wrote.