At 5 a.m., the air around Ijen volcano in eastern Java, Indonesia, is thick with bright yellow smoke. Undeterred, young Chinese tourists don gas masks and flock to the rim of the active volcano crater at sunrise, eager to capture the perfect photo. Steps away from a sheer drop into the turquoise volcanic lake, some whip out their phones to check XiaohongshuXiaohongshuXiaohongshu, which translates to “little red book” in Chinese, is a lifestyle e-commerce and social media platform.READ MORE, a Chinese social media app, for the best vantage point. Within hours, their snapshots may join the thousands already shared on the platform.
Aang Koen is familiar with this phenomenon. The 48-year-old Indonesian owns a travel…