UNESCO is best known for its prestigious list of World Heritage sites. But its most interesting endeavor might be a survey of humanity’s cultural practices. For two decades, the U.N. agency has been cataloguing the world’s intangible heritage, a label that it has applied to everything from truffle hunting to capoeira. There are more than seven hundred “elements” on the I.C.H. lists—kaleidoscopically arrayed in an interactive tool on UNESCO’s Web site—and browsing them can feel a bit like wandering through a World’s Fair organized by magical realists. Who knew that Mongolian herders could coax camels to adopt orphaned calves by serenading them at twilight? Or that a dozen Belgian families made their living by shrimp-fishing on horseback? The oddball entries alternate with those whose familiarity is even more uncanny. If you’ve ever eaten kimchi, danced bachata, or owned a Swiss watch, you may have participated unawares in a UNESCO-protected activity.