This is the Part II for Diversity culture and here you will find interesting things about Hong Kong and Tatar’s culture.

10 Things to know about Hong Kong’s culture  

I’m not speaking about China, as Hong Kong maintains a separate political and economic system apart from China.

  1. People from Hong Kong celebrate both Chinese&Western festivals.
  2. They believe in Feng Shui- how things have an influence on one’s fortune.
  3. They also pray a lot in temples for good luck.
  4. In Hong Kong it is well know that you should wear new clothes in the Chinese New Year.
  5. People from Hong Kong use to offer a “red pocket” as a gift. It is a monetary gift offered during holidays and especially on special occasions such as wedding or the birth of a baby.
  6. If we know what to offer as a gift in Hong Kong, then, let’s find out what we shouldn’t. Apparently, they don’t buy clocks as a gift. Clocks are the time symbol and offering it is a way to reminder someone that relationships and life and coming to an end.
  7. They don’t wash their hair on the 1st day of the Chinese New Year.
  8. They don’t stay late at the “Ghost festival” because the spirits may follow them back.
  9. People in Hong Kong don’t speak Mandarin, but mostly Cantonese. They will understand it though 🙂 You’re also safe if you know English as most of the people in Hong Kong speaks the language.
  10. Hong Kong has its own currency “Hong Kong dollar”, so it has nothing to do with the Chinese Youan.
Famous Phrases in Cantonese:

“make a ghost face” 扮鬼脸 (baan gwai lim) for “to pull a face”

撞鬼 (cong gwai) means to run into a ghost, used when someone is making a scene.

“for the elephant to fly across the river” (飛象過河 fei jeuhng gwo hoh – to do something unexpected or break the rules)

10 Things to know about Tatar’s culture  

  1. The Tatar’s are the Turkic people living in Asia and Europe. Originally, the term has been used for Turk-Mongols and now it is mostly used for the people who speak one of Turkic languages.
  2. They don’t like to see someone’s checking their phones during a conversation. It is considered rude.
  3. Refusing a cup of tea/coffee isn’t something that Tatars would accept real quickly.
  4. They usually don’t put the handbag on the floor. It is considered to bring misfortune and poverty.
  5. Tatar’s life was defined and shaped by Muslim law and customs.
  6. When it comes to food, tatar’s cuisine is really rich. The most typical of all variety of dishes were: first: soups and broths (shulpa, tokmach) and second: baked pastry with meat, potatoes or porridge filling – belesh, peremyach, bekekn, echpochmak, sumsa.
  7. Tea plays a significant role in the table ceremony, especially the mint tea.
  8. The Tatars did not embroider clothes, but decorated household goods: towels, napkins, table cloths, and window curtains.
  9. Most Tatars are Muslims, but there are also some Tatars, who are Christian.
  10. Tatars, just like Romanians, believe in cold drafts. It means, that they don’t like to stay with the air conditional or the window opened too much as it may inflict a head/teeth or bones pain. We call it in Romanian “a trage curentul”.

Famous expressions in Tatar’s culture:

ciğerimin köşesi- the corner of my liver (English)-meaning: someone who is really precious to you

Romanian version: lumina ochilor mei

Boşver- let it go

 I really loved to work on these articles as I had to do some research and I found out a lot of interesting things about these four cultures.

I’ve only visited Italy, but now I know I’m a little bit more prepared if I’ll go soon in Netherlands, India or Hong Kong.

Tatar’s are in many countries, so I should choose which one to visit.

Thanks for reading 🙂

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