Tea-time and snacking customs
The bite offered to a visitor, the market stop and the tea-time visit.
Snacking customs are the small rituals between meals: the tea-time visit, the offering made to a guest who arrives unannounced, the stop at a market stall that a neighbourhood treats as its own. These pages are about those habits and the manners attached, not about the food itself. For the dishes, see Thali.
Offering something
In many cultures a visitor is never allowed to leave without something to eat or drink, and refusing too quickly can be rude. Tea-time, coffee breaks and afternoon visits have their own scripts for who offers, who refuses once, and who finally accepts.
Shared stops
Street stalls, markets and festival grounds create customs of their own: queueing, calling the order, eating standing up, sharing from one paper. At festivals the snack is part of the day, handed out from the temple, the church hall or the village square.
Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background on Tea-time and snacking customs (meal). Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
🇹🇼 Taipei, TaiwanNight markets in Taiwan夜市
Street markets that open at sunset across Taiwan, selling snacks, drinks and goodsTable custom · Tea-time and snacking customs
🇯🇵 Kyoto, Japan and 4 moreHanami花見
A Japanese spring custom of gathering under blooming cherry trees to eat, drink, and celebrate the fleeting beauty of thFestival · Lunch
🇨🇳 Shanghai, China and 1 moreJiaozi餃子
Crescent Chinese dumplings filled with meat or vegetables, eaten for fortune and feastsTable custom · Breakfast
🇨🇳 China and 5 moreDouble Ninth Festival重陽節
An autumn festival of mountain walks, chrysanthemum wine and ancestor remembranceSeasonal · Tea-time and snacking customs
🇨🇳 China and 5 moreTea culture
How tea is prepared, shared and served, from Chinese tea houses to Tibetan butter teaTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇯🇵 Osaka, JapanTsukimi月見 (Tsukimi) / お月見 (Otsukimi)
A Japanese autumn festival honoring the harvest moon with seasonal foods and pampas grass decorations.Festival · Dinner
🇯🇵 JapanTango no sekku端午の節句
A Japanese seasonal festival for children marked with carp streamers and iris leaves.Festival · Sweets given and shared
🇨🇳 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
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Tea culture: Georges Seguin ( Okki ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Hanami: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Double Ninth Festival: Sgerbic, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Jiaozi: Bioniclepluslotr, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Night markets in Taiwan: Henry M. Trotter, Public domain, source
- Tsukimi: katorisi, CC BY 3.0, source
- Tango no sekku: tiseb, CC BY 2.0, source
- Dim sum: Kolumbusjogger, CC BY-SA 3.0, source