Etiquettes and Customs

Weisang-A Pine Branch Burning Ceremony
You may often see rising smoke in the air especially at monasteries, mountain peaks, mountain passes, lakeshores and households in Tibet region. The rising smoke is from a religious ritual of burning branches of pine trees or cypress. The name of this ritual is Weisang.

Enjoy Lingka-Tibetan’s Leisure Time in the Parks
Lingka in Tibetan language means “garden”, and “Do Lingka” means "go on a picnic" which is the most common form of entertainment for Tibetans, mostly during June to September. When the season comes, you could see a lot of dressed up local Tibetans move to the suburb “lingka”.

10 Disrespectful Behaviors You Should Avoid in Tibetan Monasteries
When traveling in Tibet, you can learn more about local customs and taboos so that you could have a better understanding of local culture and life. Here are some taboos listed when you visit the monasteries, hope the visitors can obey and respect local customs.

Living Epic of King Gesar
Ballad-singing is popular among Tibetans. The longest heroic epic in the world, “King Gesar”, was handed down from one generation to another by ballad-singing. It can be performed by one man or more than two persons. Sometimes it is accompanied with musical instruments.

Etiquettes in Tibet
Learn some Tibetan Etiquettes and Taboos before traveling to Tibet, to understand and respect their culture during your trip.

Do's & Don'ts
We list some Tibetan Taboos to show you how to have proper behavior while traveling in Tibet.

Wind Horse Flags-Prayer in the Wind
The prayer banner written with the scripture text “wind horse” is said to be the earliest text appeared on the flag in the temple of Kagyu Sect. Tibetan Buddhism urges its believers to circularly and constantly recite mantra from scriptures, especially the six proverb words, since these six words are regarded as the root of all the classics.

General Tibetan Customs
Introduction of Tibet local customs and traditions on languages, greetings, and diet habits, etc.

Sky Burial Custom in Tibet
Celestial burial, popularly known as “sky burial”, is a funeral practice in which a human corpse is placed on a mountaintop to decompose while exposed to the elements or to be eaten by scavenging animals, especially carrion birds.

Mani Stones in Tibet
If you travel to Tibet, you will see a special kind of sacrificial altar that is piled up with lots of stones-Mani Stones, also known as the “holy heap.” “Mani” is the shorter form of one of the mantras of the Sanskrit scriptures.

Tibetan Dwelling Customs and Etiquette
The diversity of Tibetan residential customs is not only manifested by the buildings of square shape and stone structure but also the more abundant types caused by different regions.

Tibetan Marriage Customs
There are about four forms of marriage in Tibet mainly dominated by monogamy which is prevalent and most prominent in the cities and towns of Tibet.

Tibetan New Year Celebration
For the New Year celebration, people usually would dressed in new clothes and drink a toast with each other to greet the Tibetan New Year.

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