24 Peoples Who Don't French-Kiss

by Paulo M. Raymundo, 14 Nov 2001

"Most of us don't realize that the act of French kissing is not universal.
Those who don't kiss as we do comprise over 1.6 billion individuals in the world..."

The Chinese are shocked with Hollywood-style kiss, describing it as pure cannibalism (1.3 billion)
The Japanese don't have a word for 'kiss'. They prefer a secret spot behind their necks (126 million), exception being the 15 thousand Ainus of Hokkaido, as they prefer a big bite on the cheek.

FThose who prefer nose-sniffing and nose-rubbing rather than a straight lip-to-lip type of kiss:

Vietnamese (77 million)
Thais (61 million)
Santals (India; 6 million)
Andamanese Islanders (India; 300 thousand)

FThe 'Malay kiss' described by Charles Darwin and enjoyed by many races with some variation, does not consist of just nose-rubbing. Among the Eskimos, for instance, the lips open up a bit once the olfactory organs of the kissing partners meet. Then they take a deep breath and send the air out while holding their lips closed. After savoring the scent of each other, the partners press noses against each other's cheeks and freeze for a minute of two:

Malays (Malaysia & Indonesia; 20 million, scattered among their total population of almost 300 million)
Mongolians (3 million)
Yakuts (Siberia; 400 thousand)
Maori (New Zealand; 300 thousand). The 'hongi' is not an erotic kiss, it's a common Maori formal greeting consisting of a nose-press and sometimes an exchange of breath, rather than nose rubbing and sniffing.
Eskimos (200 thousand)
Tongans (Pacific Ocean; 120 thousand)
Trobriand Islanders (Papua New Guinea; 12 thousand)
Saamis (Finland; 145 thousand). They usually clasp each other round the neck first and then rub noses.

The ancient Egyptians used the same word for 'smell' and 'kiss', proof that they also enjoyed it. The 'Malay kiss' is known among Brazilians as 'Eskimo kiss'. In Brazilian Portuguese the intimate greeting 'um cheiro', which means 'a smell', is a synonym for 'a kiss'.

FKissing doesn't appeal to some people because the idea of getting mixed up with another person's saliva
revolts them:

Somalis (8 million)
Rundis (Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda & Tanzania; 6 million)
Kikuyus (Kenya; 5 million)
Chewas (Malawi & Zambia; 5 million)
Tsongas (South Africa & Mozambique; 3 million)
Mongo-Nkundos (Congo; 400 thousand)
Lepchas (Sikkim; 65 thousand)
Sirionos (Bolivia; ~500 individuals)

FPrefer to dance with their head and shoulders as their faces nearly touch:

Balinese (Indonesia; 4 million)

FApply their nose to the cheek of someone then deeply inhales; this is followed by a series of lip-smacking
motions, which could last for over 30 minutes:

Khyoungthas (Himalayas, India)

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