Tashi delek is a Tibetan

Tibetan people

The Tibetan people are an ethnic group that is native to Tibet, which is mostly in the People's Republic of China. They number 5.4 million and are the 10th largest ethnic group in the country. Significant Tibetan minorities also live in India, Nepal, and Bhutan...

 greeting.

Origin and meaning

Tashi

Tashi

-Monasteries:*Tashilhünpo in Shigatse;*Labrang Tashikhyil in Amdo;*Tashichoedzong in Bhutan;-Persons:*The "Tashi Lama" is a title used in older English sources to refer to the Panchen Lama;*Tashi Namgyal, king of Sikkim, 1914-1963;...

 means auspicious and Delek (or Deleg, Deleh) means fine or well. It is difficult and perhaps impossible to translate properly into English. Different authors render it as "Blessings and good luck" or "May all auspicious signs come to this environment".

Usage

The correct usage of the phrase "Tashi Delek" can be a point of contention between Tibetans in and outside of China. Tibetans outside of China use it in approximately the same way as the English "Good day", whereas Tibetans in China use it only for New Year's greetings. Each claims the other side's use has been corrupted.. However, Tibetans all over the Tibetan Plateau respond positively to tourists using it year round and also might greet Westerners with 'Tashi Delek'.

The phrase "Tashi delek" is also used in the Chinese language

Chinese language

The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...

 with the Chinese transcription Zhaxi Dele . Most Chinese only know the Chinese transcription of the phrase, not its Roman alphabet transcription. There is a song called Zhaxi Dele with lyrics by Rongzhong Erjia (容中尔甲), a Tibetan, and music by Chang Yingzhong (昌英中), a Han Chinese

Han Chinese

Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...

.

The phrase is also used in Nepal

Nepal

Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...

, Bhutan

Bhutan

Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...

 and Sikkim

Sikkim

Sikkim is a landlocked Indian state nestled in the Himalayan mountains...

. There is a company in Bhutan called TashiDelek.com and a Hotel Tashi Delek in Gangtok

Gangtok

Gangtok is the capital and largest town of the Indian state of Sikkim. Gangtok is located in the Shivalik Hills of the eastern Himalayan range, at an altitude of . The town, with a population of thirty thousand belonging to different ethnicities such as Nepalis, Lepchas and Bhutia, is administered...

, Sikkim. The inflight magazine of Bhutan

Bhutan

Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...

ese airline Druk Air

Druk Air

Druk Air Corporation Limited , operating as Drukair — Royal Bhutan Airlines, is the national airline of the Kingdom of Bhutan. Its headquarters are in the western dzongkhag of Paro....

is called Tashi Delek.