Traditional Customs of the Mongolian People

The Mongols live mainly in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Believing in Lamaism, the herdsmen love to wear long robes with rolled edges, hats or cloth wrapped around their heads, snuff bottles hanging from their belts, and leather boots, and mostly live in yurts.

Traditional Mongolian etiquette, the main offering of Hada, snuff bottle, loaded with cigarettes and please, of course, now there are bowing and shaking hands. The rituals of offering Hada are the same as those of the Tibetans. Mongolian herders are very hospitable and polite. When the guests are invited to enter the yurt, they always stand on the west side of the door, put their right hand on their chest and bow slightly, and point to the door with their left hand, asking the guests to go first. After the guests sit on their knees, the hosts offer milk tea and wine according to the etiquette of shallow tea and full of wine, and offer the guests with the Hada.

When receiving the host's milk wine, the most decent is in accordance with the Mongolian way of toast, the left hand cup, with the right hand of the ring finger dipped in a drop of wine popped to the head of the side, said the first sacrifice to the sky, the second drop popped to the ground, said sacrifices to the ground, the third drop of wine popped to the front, said sacrifices to the ancestors, and then the wine a drink. If the guest does not know how to drink, simply place the cup respectfully on the table.

The best feasts for entertaining guests include hand-held mutton and whole goat feasts. If you are an honored guest, the host will set up a whole goat banquet to entertain you and show the host's respect for you. Mongolians do not eat dog meat, fish, shrimp and other seafood, as well as chicken and duck offal and fat meat. When sending off a guest, the host sends the guest to the outside of the mongolian bag or to the local border.

When passing by a yurt, ride lightly and slowly so as not to startle the herd. Before entering the yurt, you should put the horse whip outside the door, otherwise, it will be regarded as disrespectful to the host. You should enter the door from the left side, and sit on the right side after entering the yurt accompanied by your master; when leaving the yurt, you should take the original route.

After leaving the yurt, do not get on the horse and cart immediately, but walk for a while and wait for the host to go back, then get on the horse and cart again.

If there is a rope tied to the left side of the front of the yurt, and one end of the rope is buried in the ground, it means that there is a sick person in the yurt, and the owner can't treat the guests.

The Naadam Conference is a traditional Mongolian program, usually held in the seventh and eighth months of the lunar calendar, and is a grand annual mass gathering of the Mongolian people. The Big Year and the Little Year are the more important festivals in Mongolia (the Big Year is the Spring Festival, and the Little Year is on the 23rd day of the Lunar New Year).