If you’re playing in the north of China, you’ll probably only have 136 tiles.
Normally, 144 tiles are used for Shanghainese mahjong, which is what we’re focusing on here. Tiles are called pai (the same as the word for card). The symbol that isn't a direction is pronounced fa, as in fortune.įor the red one representing the character zhong (middle), say hongzhong. The MM is made up of eight sticks, so it’s also a bamboo: ba tiao. If you get the bird, it represents yi tiao (one bamboo). There are a couple of curve balls in the pack, too. Maybe practice reading out Shanghai street signs to learn the symbols if you don’t already know them. There are also the winds (feng) tiles, which come in four directions: north (bei), east (dong), south (nan) and west (xi). There are three main suits in mahjong: the bamboo or stick (tiao), the circle (tong) and the ten-thousand symbol (wan). The tiles are all named and you say them as you lay them: the number at the top plus the symbol at the bottom, in that order, just like naming playing cards (er, not liang, for two). There’s no way around this, HSK haters: in order to play, you need to be able to read some Chinese and pronounce numbers in Mandarin, plus a few extra words to name the suits and announce your actions.
Mahjong was a form of entertainment for housewives and female friends back in the day. Young people are often taught by their grandparents and, although some play with friends, this is more common among the older generations.
Shanghai mahjong dos full#
Families in southern China will often play mahjong for the full fifteen days. We’ll note important differences as we go.Īlthough mahjong is played at lots of different family gatherings, it’s most often associated with the Spring Festival – plenty of time to practice if it you don’t manage to win in autumn. Some styles are very different, though, especially the variant common in Sichuan.
Shanghai mahjong dos upgrade#
Today, there are at least 20 different ways to play (not including Microsoft rules), and upgrade possibilities ranging from self-shuffling tables to dedicated extractor fan lights and novelty tile sets.Ĭantonese and Hong Kong style are now among the most popular, and Shanghainese is very similar during World War II, lots of people traveled between Shanghai and Hong Kong, so the styles mingled. The game of tiles originated in northern China and worked its way south, with transformations at every major city and province. Mahjong has come a long way from its Qing Dynasty origins.
Shanghai mahjong dos how to#
Here’s how to bluff your way through the ubiquitous national diversion. We can’t help you to ganbei your way through the evening, but mahjong? We can do that. If you’re spending any time with a Chinese family, three things are almost guaranteed: mooncakes, alcohol and mahjong.
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