Incense also known as agarbathi (or agarbatti) and joss sticks, in which an incense paste is rolled or moulded around a bamboo stick, are the main forms of incense in India. The bamboo method originated in India, and is distinct from the Nepali/Tibetan and Japanese methods of stick making without bamboo cores. Though the method is also used in the west, particularly in America, it is strongly associated with India. The basic ingredients are the bamboo stick, the paste (generally made of charcoal dust and joss/jiggit/gum/tabu powder - an adhesive made from the bark of litsea glutinosa and other trees), and
Incense in China its nobility enjoying incense as a popular cultural pastime, to the extent of building rooms specifically for the use of incense ceremonies. Besides meaning "incense", the Chinese word "xiang" () also means "fragrance; scent; aroma; perfume; spice". The sinologist and historian Edward H. Schafer said that in medieval China: Words meaning "censer; incense burner" are compounds of "lu" ( or ) "brazier; stove; furnace", which was a category of ancient Chinese bronzes. "Xianglu" (香爐, with "incense") means "incense burner; censer" in general. "Xunlu" (熏爐, with "smoke; fumigate; cure (food) with smoke", or 薰爐, with "fragrance (of plants); an aromatic grass,