Mad for mahjong(2)

Playing the Chinese way

Away from the blood-and-thunder battles of competitive mahjong tournaments, a number of foreigners in Beijing are picking up the game as a hobby. For many foreigners, according to Chinese language teacher Yang Yu, playing mahjong is a way to learn more about Chinese culture, meet new people, and participate in local life.

Yang teaches at the Chinese Language Education (CLE), which hosts a mahjong night for all comers once a month. Among those who have attended the mahjong night, said Yang, were people from Israel, Peru, Columbia and South Africa, as well as Europe and the US. Of the cultural activities organized by the school, which include Chinese chess, kite-flying, and making lanterns, mahjong was the most popular, said Yang.

"It's fun but not always easy, and there is always room for improvement," said de Pallette, one of the students at the school.

"They give the mahjong tiles interesting nicknames," said Yang. One example, Yang said, was with a tile they called "M&M", because the pictogram resembled two inverted facing m's.

According to Yang, students usually take around two hours to get a basic idea of how to play the game, and even when they make mistakes, such as when to draw tiles or how to roll the dice (used to determine the deal), most students end up having a good time.

The most impressive mahjong player among her students, said Yang, was a 70-year-old American named Terry, who has resided in Beijing for four years, and lives alone.

"He is kind of stubborn and fond of solitude," said Yang. "But whenever we hosted a mahjong night, we would call him, and he would always appear within the hour."

These days, Yang and her workmates go to Terry's home every other weekend and during holidays to play mahjong with him.

"We joke that it's an act of charity, like spending time with the elderly," said Yang, smiling.

Cultural export

According to Jiang Xuanqi, secretary-general of the WMO, there are now more than 600 million people playing mahjong worldwide.

"Like poker, which was imported into China from Europe, mahjong is a way for China to export its culture into the world," said Jiang.

Jiang believes that mahjong reflects specifically a Chinese philosophy and mode of thinking, in contrast to games that originated in the West.

"Take the dice, for example," said Jiang. "Western dice are square, with hard angles on every edge, while Chinese dice are round and smooth. This reflects the Chinese attitude of 'letting nature run its course.' When you roll a rounded die, it takes longer for it to settle and become still, whereas with square dice, it is faster, thus satisfying the foreigners' need to see results right away."

According to Jiang, mahjong is now being implemented in a number of American elementary schools to help develop mental acuity, as well as in old person's homes to ward off dementia.

There's no place like home

While efforts are being made to further promote mahjong overseas, Jiang believes that it is equally important to preserve the history and competitiveness of mahjong in China.

The WMO is currently arranging for the migration of a mahjong museum with more than 30,000 artifacts from Chiba prefecture in Japan back to China.

The museum was established by Japanese businessman Kyoichiro Noguchi, a lifelong lover of the game. When Noguchi passed away in 2011, one of his dying wishes was that his massive collection of mahjong memorabilia be returned to China.

"We have not decided yet when and where to move it," said Jiang. "But it will be done very soon, for mahjong's sake - the treasure of all mankind!"

However, when de Pallette was asked whether he thought this might help China to ascend again to the top of the global ranks, the Englishman was nonplussed.

"I don't think that really means anything," said de Pallette. "The British invented lots of sports, such as rugby, football and cricket, but we hardly ever win anything!"