etiquette
A Chinaman will inquire of what noble country you are. You return the question, and he will say his lowly province is so-and-so. He will invite you to do him the honour of directing your jewelled feet to his degraded house. You reply that you, a discredited worm, will crawl into his magnificent palace.

19th Century description of Chinese etiquette by a Westerner writing under the name "Resident in Peking"