Customs
Exchange greetings when meeting, even strangers. When you meet peers or acquaintances, you usually ask: "Hello Saibainu"; if you meet an elder or someone you meet for the first time, you have to ask: "Hi Saibainu." (Hello).
Hospitality to passers-by (whether you know them or not) is a traditional virtue of the Mongolian people. Mongolian people pay great attention to etiquette and rules in hospitality. For example, when eating hand-made mutton, the mutton's pipa bone with meat and four long ribs are usually served to the guests. If beef is served to guests, a piece of meaty spine, half a rib and a piece of fat intestine are given to the guests.
When visiting a Mongolian home, you must respect the host. After entering the yurt, you have to sit cross-legged on the carpet around the stove. However, the owner's residence is to the west of the stove. You are not allowed to sit casually when the owner is not sitting. The guests usually want to drink the milk tea offered by the host, and it would be rude not to drink it. If the host invites you to eat dairy products, the guests should not refuse, otherwise it will hurt the host's heart. If it is inconvenient to eat more, just eat a little.
Offering hada is also a noble etiquette of the Mongolian people. When offering a hada, the giver should bow down and hold it with both hands and hand it to the other person. The recipient should also bow down and receive it with both hands or bow to let the giver hang the hada around his neck and express his gratitude.
Mongolians should avoid riding fast when approaching yurts on horseback or driving, so as not to disturb the herds; if there is a fire in front of the door or signs such as red cloth hanging, it means that there is a patient or pregnant woman in the house, so avoid Outsiders are not allowed to enter; guests are not allowed to sit on the Western Kang, because the west is the direction for worshiping the Buddha; avoid eating the meat of dead animals, donkey meat, dog meat, and white horse meat; avoid red and white when doing funerals, and avoid black and yellow when doing happy events; Bake your feet, shoes, socks and trousers on the brazier; it is prohibited to smoke, spit, touch ritual objects, classics, Buddha statues and make loud noises when visiting temple sutra halls and altars, and hunting near the temple is not allowed; < /p>
Food Customs
Mongolian herdsmen regard sheep as the guarantee of life and the source of wealth. There are three meals a day, and each meal is inseparable from milk and meat. Foods made from milk are called "Chaganyide" in Mongolian, which means holy and pure food, that is, "white food"; foods made from meat are called "Ulanyide" in Mongolian. "De" means "red food". In addition to the most common milk, Mongolians also consume goat milk, horse milk, deer milk and camel milk, a small part of which is used as fresh milk drinks, and most of which are processed into dairy products.
The meat of the Mongolian people is mainly cattle and sheep, followed by goat meat and a small amount of horse meat. They also hunt yellow mutton during the hunting season. There are more than 70 common traditional ways to eat mutton, including whole sheep feast, tender-skinned whole sheep feast, woolen whole sheep feast, roasted lamb, roasted lamb heart, fried lamb tripe, lamb brain stew, etc. The most distinctive one is Mongolian The ethnic group roasts whole sheep (skinned and roasted), oven-roasted whole sheep with skin or Alxa roasted whole sheep, the most common one is hand-roasted lamb.
As important as red food and white food in daily diet, fried rice is a unique Mongolian food. The Mongolian people in the western region also have the custom of using fried rice to make "beng". Various foods made from flour are increasingly included in the Mongolian daily diet. The most common ones are noodles and pancakes. They are good at adding flour fillings to make unique Mongolian buns, Mongolian pies and Mongolian pastry Xinsu cakes.
The Mongolian people cannot do without tea every day. In addition to drinking black tea, almost everyone has the habit of drinking milk tea. They make milk tea first thing every morning. It is best to use freshly purified water to make milk tea. After boiling, put the tea powder into a clean pot or pot, simmer for 2-3 minutes, then add the fresh milk and salt, and bring to a boil. Mongolian milk tea sometimes also adds butter, or milk skin, or fried rice, etc. It is aromatic, salty and delicious, and is a nourishing drink containing a variety of nutrients. Some people even think that it is okay to go without food for three days, but not drink milk tea for one day.
The Mongols also like to use the fruits, leaves and flowers of many wild plants to make milk tea. The cooked milk tea has different flavors, and some can prevent and cure diseases.
Most Mongolians can drink alcohol, and the alcohol they drink is mostly liquor and beer. In some areas, they also drink milk wine and kumiss. Every festival or gathering of guests and friends, there is a habit of drinking heavily. Kumiss is made from fermented fresh mare's milk and does not require distillation.
Typical foods: There are many Mongolian foods with distinctive characteristics, such as roasted lamb, oven-roasted whole lamb with skin, hand-grilled lamb, big fried lamb, roasted lamb legs, milk tofu, Mongolian buns, and Mongolian pie. wait. Folks also include: cream, milk skin, whole sheep feast, cooked roast sheep, cabbage and mutton rolls, Xinsu cakes, and dried rice.