网红 wǎng hóng
Influencers, and the places that are famous online.
The short answer
EverydayNow commonChecked November 2026
Wanghong means an internet celebrity or influencer. It is short for 网络红人, “a person who is popular on the internet”. It also describes places and food that are popular online: a 网红店 is a shop that people visit for photos.
In a chat
- 亮亮 Liangliang
这家奶茶店门口怎么这么多人？
Why are there so many people outside this milk tea shop?
- 里昂 Leon
网红店，大家都来拍照。
It's famous online. Everyone comes to take photos.
- 亮亮 Liangliang
好喝吗？
Is it good?
- 里昂 Leon
一般，但是很出片。
It's OK. But it looks great in photos.
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How to reply
那我们也去拍一张吧。
Then let's go take one too.
网红店排队太久了，换一家吧。
The lines at viral shops are too long. Let's try another place.
When not to use it
What it means
红 means red, and in Chinese it also means popular: a 红人 is a person who is popular or in favor. A 网红 is a person who became famous on the internet, for example on Douyin, Xiaohongshu, Weibo or Bilibili.
As a modifier, 网红 describes anything that is popular online: 网红店 (a shop famous online), 网红景点 (a sight that people visit for photos), 网红美食 (food that went viral).
How people use it
In the news, 网红 is a neutral word. In a chat, it can be a little mocking, for a place that looks better in photos than in real life.
打卡 (to check in) often goes with it: people 打卡 a 网红店 when they visit it to post a photo.
Where it comes from
Chinese Wikipedia gives 网红 as the short form of 网络红人, a person who is famous on the internet. A 2016 article on ifanr says the word was everywhere that year.
In use
2 examples她是一个有名的美食网红。
She's a well-known food influencer.
这家网红店每天都要排队。
There's a line at this viral shop every day.
The characters
Explore individuallyIndividual character meanings do not always explain the meaning of the whole word.
Sources
This guide is original Dengdeng editorial content, offered under CC BY-SA 4.0. The linked dictionary entries adapt CC-CEDICT under the same license.