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EveryParampara

Greetings, manners and hospitality

How people greet, host, give gifts and behave at the table.

Greetings, manners and hospitality are the small rules that tell people how to treat each other: how to say hello, how to eat, how to give a gift, how to refuse and how to leave. They differ in each culture, and a gesture that is warm in one place may be rude in another. EveryParampara gathers them by country, from the Thai wai and the Japanese bow to Ethiopian coffee, Iranian taarof and the Maori hongi, so that visitors and curious readers can understand what is going on.

Greeting and giving

Greetings may involve a bow, a handshake, a kiss, a hand on the heart or the joining of palms. Gifts have their own rules: both hands in East Asia, the right hand in much of Africa and the Middle East, no white flowers in China, no alcohol in a Muslim home. Wrapping, timing and the way a gift is received all matter. When in doubt, a small gift of food or sweets, given with a smile, is welcome almost anywhere.

At the table and at the door

Shoes off at the door, a seat of honour for the guest, the eldest served first, a refused offer pressed again: the rules of the table and the threshold are widely shared in spirit if not in detail. A good guest watches, thanks the host and does not rush. A good host feeds the guest, lets the guest leave with food, and walks them to the gate. These small customs make the visit a pleasure for both.

About this page

Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background on Greetings, manners and hospitality (kind of tradition). Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

RegionSouth AsiaSoutheast AsiaEast AsiaCentral Asia and the CaucasusMiddle EastNorth AfricaSub-Saharan AfricaEuropeNorth AmericaLatin America and the CaribbeanOceania
MealBreakfastLunchDinnerSupperTea-time and snacking customsTea, coffee and drinking ceremoniesSweets given and sharedFeasts and festival mealsFasting and breaking the fast
🇨🇮 Ivory Coast and 1 moreAbissa A week-long New Year festival of the Nzema people in Ivory Coast and Ghana, marked by sacred drums, dance, and forgiveneFestival 🇦🇱 Albania and 1 moreKanunKanû Albanian customary law kept by word of mouth, centred on honour and the given wordEtiquette 🇷🇺 Russia and 1 moreRussian tea culture The everyday cup of Russia, brewed strong and diluted to taste, with jam and sweetsTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies 🇵🇭 Philippines and 3 moreManoPagmamano A Filipino greeting where a younger person bows and asks an elder for a blessingEtiquette 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreElevenses A short mid-morning pause for a drink and a small bite, kept in many countriesTable custom · Tea-time and snacking customs 🇪🇸 Spain and 5 moreCompadre A ritual kinship made at a child's baptism, binding parents and godparents for lifeSpiritual 🇳🇿 Waitangi, New ZealandPōwhiri A formal Māori welcome onto a marae, with calls, speeches, song and the hongiEtiquette 🇯🇵 Kyoto, JapanJapanese tea ceremony茶道 (Sadō / Chadō), 茶の湯 (Chanoyu) The formal serving of powdered matcha, shaped by Zen, Shinto and wabiTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies 🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreWedding reception The party after a wedding, where the couple greet guests over food, cake and dancingFestival · Feasts and festival meals 🇷🇺 Russia and 5 moreBread and saltхлеб-соль Bread and salt offered to a guest: a welcome kept from Russia to AlbaniaEtiquette 🇨🇳 Lhasa, China and 5 moreButter teaབོད་ཇ་ A salted tea churned with yak butter, served to guests across the HimalayaTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies 🇬🇧 London, United Kingdom and 4 moreAfternoon tea A late-afternoon spread of tea, small sandwiches and cakes, kept across BritainTable custom · Tea-time and snacking customs 🇨🇳 Guangzhou, China and 1 moreDim sum點心 (traditional Chinese), 点心 (simplified Chinese) Small dishes shared with tea, eaten as brunch in Cantonese teahouses and restaurantsTable custom · Breakfast 🇬🇪 Tbilisi, GeorgiaSupraსუფრა A Georgian feast led by a toastmaster, where toasts, wine and food carry the mealTable custom · Feasts and festival meals 🇷🇺 Russia and 1 moreZakuskiзакуски A laid-out table of cold small dishes that opens a Russian festive mealTable custom · Tea-time and snacking customs 🇨🇳 China and 5 moreYum cha飲茶 A Cantonese breakfast of dim sum and tea, eaten slowly in large groupsTable custom · Breakfast 🇨🇳 China and 6 moreRed envelope紅包 / 红包 (hóngbāo) Money in a red packet, given at Lunar New Year, weddings and other big daysEtiquette 🇦🇷 Argentina and 4 moreAsado A slow fire, a grill and a shared table: how people gather to cook and eat meatTable custom · Feasts and festival meals 🇮🇷 IranTaarofتعارف An Iranian code of ritual politeness, where offers and refusals are traded with graceEtiquette 🇯🇵 JapanBowing in Japanお辞儀 The Japanese bow, used to greet, thank, apologise and show respectEtiquette 🇹🇷 Istanbul, TurkeyTurkish tea culture Two stacked pots, tulip glasses, and a choice of strong or weak tea in TurkeyTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies 🇦🇹 Vienna, AustriaViennese coffee house cultureWiener Kaffeehauskultur A Viennese social ritual where patrons linger for hours with a single coffee and newspapers.Etiquette · Tea-time and snacking customs 🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan and 4 moreBeshbarmakбешбармак Boiled meat and noodles, eaten by hand from one platter, with a set cut for each guestTable custom · Feasts and festival meals 🇰🇷 South KoreaKorean tea ceremony다례 (茶禮) Tea served in Korea as a rite of courtesy, now mostly grain and herbal brewsTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies 🇺🇸 United StatesPotluck A shared meal where every guest brings a dish, kept by churches, clubs and neighborsTable custom · Dinner 🇵🇾 Paraguay and 3 moreTereré Paraguay's cold yerba mate drink, passed around in one cup with a metal strawTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies 🇹🇷 Turkey and 5 moreCoffee culture The habits and etiquette of drinking coffee, and the cafés built around itTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies 🇮🇳 India and 2 morePujaपूजा (pūjā) Hindu worship: light, flowers and food offered to a deity or a guestSpiritual 🇸🇬 Singapore and 3 moreMatchmaking The custom of using a trusted intermediary to introduce partners for marriageRite of passage 🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreLibation The ceremonial gift of drink given to deities, ancestors, and the earthSpiritual · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies 🇨🇳 ChinaKowtow叩頭 A traditional Chinese prostration of deep respect by kneeling and bowing to the groundEtiquette 🇺🇸 Columbia, United States and 1 moreBreastfeeding in public The custom of nursing an infant openly in shared and public spacesHome 🇮🇳 IndiaGuru-shishya traditionपरम्परा The lineage system passing spiritual and artistic knowledge from master to discipleSpiritual 🇩🇪 GermanyHat tip A gesture of lifting or touching one's hat to show respect, greeting, or thanksEtiquette 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreHip hip hooray A traditional celebratory cheer of call and response to honour someoneFestival 🇮🇳 India and 5 moreRemoval of footwear indoors The widespread custom of leaving outdoor shoes at the door for cleanliness and respectEtiquette 🇰🇪 KenyaHarambee Kenya's tradition of community self-help, where people gather to raise funds togetherCeremony 🇺🇸 New York, United States and 5 moreBundling A traditional courtship practice where a couple shares a bed under supervision to ensure compatibility and accountabilitRite of passage 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreFlyting A ritual contest of poetic insults exchanged between two parties in verse.Performance 🇯🇵 JapanMoai模合 (Mo-ai) A Japanese social support group that provides mutual aid and companionship to its members.Etiquette 🇮🇳 IndiaPranamaप्रणाम A traditional Indian gesture of reverent bowing, prostration, and touching the feetEtiquette 🇷🇺 Russia and 5 moreRussian superstitions Everyday omens, etiquette rules, and household rituals observed across RussiaFolklore 🇹🇷 Ankara, TurkeySohbet meetingsGeleneksel Sohbet Toplantıları Men's gatherings of talk, music and food, kept in towns across TurkeyPerformance 🇨🇦 Canada and 1 moreStag and doe A Canadian fundraising party for an engaged couple, featuring games, food, and raffles to help pay for the wedding.Festival · Dinner 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreBridesmaid The companions and attendants who support a bride during a weddingRite of passage 🇮🇳 IndiaIndian wedding invitationनिमन्त्रण पत्र/पत्रिका Decorative ceremonial cards sent to announce marriages and invite guests across IndiaRite of passage 🇲🇼 Chonde, MalawiMulhako wa Alhomwe An annual gathering in Malawi where the Lhomwe people celebrate their language, dance and heritage.Festival 🇺🇬 UgandaEkisaakaate A Buganda youth retreat teaching traditional manners, crafts and life skillsEtiquette
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Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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