种草
What Does 种草 Mean?
Imagine someone casually mentioning a skincare product, a restaurant, or a TV show — and suddenly you absolutely must have it. Emerging around 2020, that's 种草 in action. Literally 'planting grass' (i.e., seeding desire in someone's mind), it describes the act of recommending something so convincingly that the listener is immediately infected with the urge to buy or try it. The person doing the recommending is the gardener; your wallet is the soil.
Origin Story
From product recommendation culture — to 种草 (plant grass) means to recommend something so enthusiastically that a desire 'grows' in the listener. The opposite, 拔草 (pull grass), means to talk someone out of a purchase or lose interest. Exploded with China's KOL (Key Opinion Leader) economy.
Cultural Context
As China's social commerce boom exploded around 2019–2021, platforms like Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book) and Douyin turned everyday users into micro-influencers. 种草 became the lingua franca of this ecosystem — a word that captured how peer recommendations, unboxing videos, and lifestyle aesthetics quietly colonized consumer desires, blurring the line between genuine enthusiasm and soft advertising. The term originated and spread primarily on Xiaohongshu.
Similar Expressions in English
Like 'to hype,' 'to recommend,' or 'to sell someone on something.' The grass-planting metaphor implies that desire grows organically from a seed — useful for understanding China's massive influencer marketing culture.
How Is It Used?
Chinese Explanation (中文解释)
种草指通过分享体验或推荐，让别人对某产品产生购买欲望。源于'拔草'（购买）的对应概念，是小红书等社交电商平台的核心内容模式，反映了口碑经济的崛起。