(Ecns.cn)--When travelling in China, don't be surprised if you come across a group of enthusiasts playing a self-made English Mahjong game. At the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, an English version of the game has been played since Beijing 2008. Curious foreign tourists are attracted to, but daunted by the game, claiming that it's "hard to play," said Beijing News on Tuesday.
The English Mahjong game has 104 tiles in the set, all with English words and some pinyin. The regular Chinese version has 136 tiles with Chinese characters and symbols.
Xue Shengli, 57, told the newspaper that he invented the English Mahjong game to make friends with English enthusiasts like himself.
As one of the most popular games in China, many foreign tourists have seen Mahjong on their explorations of the country. They are fascinated by Xue and his English Mahjong. Some of them take a photo with Xue, while others try to teach him some English. Yet, even with the English version they still find it hard to play due to the complicated rules.
Xue is devoted to promoting his self-invented English Mahjong in the park and now has quite a few followers.
