How to get Xiaohongshu, Douyin, Weibo and Bilibili data from outside China
China's social platforms are where you find what Chinese consumers actually think about products, brands and trends. Xiaohongshu (RedNote) is the go-to place for product reviews and shopping notes, Douyin for short video, Weibo for news and public conversation, Bilibili for long-form video and younger audiences, and Zhihu for in-depth Q&A.
Getting that data from outside China is hard. This guide explains why and how to do it with an AI assistant.
Why it's hard
- No open APIs. None of these platforms offers an open data API to outside developers. Their official open platforms are for approved merchants, advertisers and partners.
- Login walls and app-only content. Much of Xiaohongshu and Douyin is only fully visible in the app or after signing in with a Chinese phone number.
- Global tools skip them. Most Western social data APIs cover TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, X and Reddit, but not Chinese platforms. In our comparison of eight services, only two list any Chinese platform.
- Language. The content is in Chinese, so you need translation and summarising on top of the raw data. This is where an AI assistant helps most.
What you can get
| Platform | Public data available | Price from |
|---|---|---|
| Xiaohongshu (RedNote) | Notes, note comments, search, user profiles, product reviews, creator marketplace (Pugongying) data such as blogger lists and keyword stats | $0.03 per request |
| Douyin | Videos, comments, user profiles, search, hot lists, live rooms and trend index data | $0.003 per request |
| Posts, comments, reposts, hot search lists, topic and user search, user info | $0.003 per request | |
| Bilibili | Videos, comments, subtitles, search, popular feeds, live streamers | $0.003 per request |
| Zhihu | Questions, answers, articles, search, hot lists | $0.003 per request |
| Kuaishou | Videos, comments, hot lists, live and shopping rankings | $0.003 per request |
| Official account articles, comments and stats; Channels videos | $0.03 per request |
Prices as of October 2026. Live prices are on each platform page and on the pricing page.
How to do it with your AI
- Sign up at prolevelmax.com. You get $1 of free credit, enough for a few hundred Weibo or Douyin requests. You can top up by card or Alipay.
- Connect your AI (Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and others) with the one-line Skill,
set up https://prolevelmax.com/SKILL.md, or the MCP serverhttps://prolevelmax.com/mcp. - Ask in your own language. For example: "Find the top Xiaohongshu notes about sunscreen from the last month, read the comments, and give me the five most common complaints in English." The AI finds the right source, tells you the price, fetches the data and translates it.
Example uses
- Cross-border e-commerce: see which products and features Chinese shoppers praise or complain about on Xiaohongshu before launching in China.
- Brand monitoring: track mentions of your brand on Weibo and Douyin, including hot-search appearances.
- Creator research: find Xiaohongshu and Bilibili creators in your category, with follower counts and engagement.
- Trend research: follow Weibo and Douyin hot lists to see what is trending in China right now.
FAQ
Does Xiaohongshu (RedNote) have a public API?
Xiaohongshu does not offer an open data API for outside developers. Its official open platform is for approved merchants and partners. To read public notes, comments and creator data, people use third-party data APIs such as ProLevelMax.
Can I get Douyin data with a TikTok API?
No. Douyin and TikTok are separate apps with separate content and accounts. You need a source that covers Douyin specifically. ProLevelMax has separate sources for Douyin and TikTok.
How much does Xiaohongshu or Weibo data cost?
At ProLevelMax, Weibo, Douyin, Bilibili, Zhihu and Kuaishou requests start at $0.003 each, and Xiaohongshu requests start at $0.03 each, as of October 2026, with no subscription.