Traditions of East Asia
Lunar New Year, tea ceremony, hanami, chuseok and the ancestors. 264 traditions on EveryParampara so far.
Countries
🇨🇳 China 153🇭🇰 Hong Kong 9🇯🇵 Japan 146🇲🇴 Macau 4🇲🇳 Mongolia 23🇰🇵 North Korea 22🇰🇷 South Korea 59🇹🇼 Taiwan 30
Cities and towns
On the calendar
🇨🇳 ChinaHong Kong tea culture
Morning tea with dim sum and milk tea through the day, in Hong Kong's teahousesTable custom · Breakfast
🇨🇳 Yixing, ChinaYixing clay teapot紫砂
Handcrafted Chinese purple clay teapots that season with every brewCraft · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇯🇵 JapanPindapata𑀧𑀺𑀡𑁆𑀟𑀘𑀸𑀭
A Buddhist almsround where monks walk through towns to receive food and necessities from laypeople.Spiritual
🇯🇵 JapanNemawashi根回し
The Japanese practice of building quiet consensus before an official decisionEtiquette
🇨🇳 Hong Kong, China and 5 moreFace
The shared social etiquette of honour, dignity and mutual respect across culturesEtiquette
🇯🇵 Kyoto, JapanKendo剣道
A Japanese martial art of swordsmanship using bamboo swords and protective armourGame
🇨🇳 ChinaGuanxi关系
A Chinese tradition of cultivating trusted networks and reciprocal obligationsEtiquette
🇨🇳 Chaozhou, China and 1 moreGongfu tea工夫茶
A skilled Chinese method of brewing tea in small teaware with precise heat and timingTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇯🇵 Fukuoka, Japan and 4 moreWhite Dayホワイトデー
A day on 14 March when men give a return gift to the women who gave them chocolateFestival
🇯🇵 Kyoto, JapanKaiseki懐石
A multi-course Japanese dining tradition shaped by tea ceremonies and the seasonsTable custom · Dinner
🇨🇳 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
🇰🇷 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
🇯🇵 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
🇨🇳 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
🇨🇳 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
🇨🇳 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
🇯🇵 JapanBowing in Japanお辞儀
The Japanese bow, used to greet, thank, apologise and show respectEtiquette
🇨🇳 ChinaKowtow叩頭
A traditional Chinese prostration of deep respect by kneeling and bowing to the groundEtiquette
🇯🇵 JapanMoai模合 (Mo-ai)
A Japanese social support group that provides mutual aid and companionship to its members.Etiquette
🇨🇳 Yixing, ChinaYixing clay teapot紫砂
Handcrafted Chinese purple clay teapots that season with every brewCraft · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇯🇵 JapanPindapata𑀧𑀺𑀡𑁆𑀟𑀘𑀸𑀭
A Buddhist almsround where monks walk through towns to receive food and necessities from laypeople.Spiritual
🇯🇵 JapanNemawashi根回し
The Japanese practice of building quiet consensus before an official decisionEtiquette
🇨🇳 Hong Kong, China and 5 moreFace
The shared social etiquette of honour, dignity and mutual respect across culturesEtiquette
🇯🇵 Kyoto, JapanKendo剣道
A Japanese martial art of swordsmanship using bamboo swords and protective armourGame
🇨🇳 ChinaGuanxi关系
A Chinese tradition of cultivating trusted networks and reciprocal obligationsEtiquette
🇨🇳 Chaozhou, China and 1 moreGongfu tea工夫茶
A skilled Chinese method of brewing tea in small teaware with precise heat and timingTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇯🇵 Fukuoka, Japan and 4 moreWhite Dayホワイトデー
A day on 14 March when men give a return gift to the women who gave them chocolateFestival
🇯🇵 Kyoto, JapanKaiseki懐石
A multi-course Japanese dining tradition shaped by tea ceremonies and the seasonsTable custom · Dinner
🇨🇳 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
🇰🇷 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
🇯🇵 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
🇨🇳 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
🇨🇳 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
🇨🇳 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
🇯🇵 JapanBowing in Japanお辞儀
The Japanese bow, used to greet, thank, apologise and show respectEtiquette
🇨🇳 ChinaKowtow叩頭
A traditional Chinese prostration of deep respect by kneeling and bowing to the groundEtiquette
🇯🇵 JapanMoai模合 (Mo-ai)
A Japanese social support group that provides mutual aid and companionship to its members.Etiquette
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
- Kaiseki: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- White Day: Flickr user mersy ( Masashi Yanagiya), CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Kendo: Source: photo taken by Harald Hofer, CC BY-SA 2.0 at, source
- Gongfu tea: Kandukuru Nagarjun, CC BY 2.0, source
- Yixing clay teapot: Commonsenses, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pindapata: Suhendro winarso, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Japanese tea ceremony: Photograph taken by Stephane D'Alu ( en:User:Sdalu ) in April 2004, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Butter tea: Yosomono, CC BY 2.0, source
- Dim sum: Kolumbusjogger, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Yum cha: Infomofo, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Red envelope: Oldie~commonswiki, Public domain, source
- Bowing in Japan: Maya-Anaïs Yataghène, CC BY 2.0, source
- Korean tea ceremony: Mai-Linh Doan, CC BY-SA 1.0, source
- Kowtow: Gary Todd, CC0, source