From a secluded corner of a London library, the clacking of plastic mahjong pieces being shuffled on a table punctuates the stillness.
The unusual sound emanates from a multicultural group of people huddled around a mahjong game, their eyes darting across the playing tiles.
Here, as in libraries and board-game cafés up and down the country, a game that traces its roots to the Qing Dynasty is experiencing a resurgence.
Mahjong, meaning “sparrow” in Chinese because of the bird-like sound the tiles produce when shuffled, is big in the UK partly as a result of recently arrived Hong Kong émigrés bringing their passion for the game with them. The UK has its own mahjong players association and scores of enthusiasts gather for tournaments all over the country throughout the year.
Considered a game for the elderly in China, elsewhere mahjong attracts a younger and culturally more diverse audience, attracted by its strategy and sociability.
Like some card games, mahjong is typically played by four people, and involves drawing and discarding tiles to form sets and sequences of images embossed or painted onto the playing pieces, which were traditionally made from ivory, bone or bamboo.
The game was introduced to the West in the 1920s and spawned several English translations of the rules, including How to Play Mah Jong (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1923) by Jean Bray and Mah Jongg: How to Play and Score (J. Jaques & Son, 1924) by CMW Higginson. The latter introduced a British version of the game, The Queen Club Rules, which were based on Chinese variants and became popular across the British Empire in the 1930s.
Mind games
At Northolt Library in West London’s Ealing district, older players—mostly in their 60s—gather on Wednesday evenings to indulge their passion for the game, continuing a social gathering that was begun by a British-Chinese couple a decade ago. They initially played at their home before taking their game set to the library.
The leafy suburb is home to many Hong Kong émigrés. Its population of British National (Overseas) passport holders tripled between 2021 and 2024 to almost 800 individuals attracted to its good schools and flourishing social infrastructure. Ealing Council, for instance, supports two grassroots organisations: the Ealing and Northfields Hong Kong Club, a community group with well-established ties to the Hong Kong community, and the Light Foundation, a local charity that supports Hong Kongers.
Fariza Bhatti, the library’s supervisor, said the group began with seven regulars and has since doubled beyond the initial friendship group.
“It’s open to whoever is interested,” she said, also noting the diverse backgrounds of the players. Regulars hail from the Caribbean, Poland, Pakistan, India and Iran, as well as the UK and Hong Kong.
Sessions in Northolt last four hours, including breaks for tea and biscuits prepared by the players.
“We’re happy and excited. It’s a good atmosphere,” Bhatti said. “When they start playing, people come and stand and watch. It’s nice that people spend quality time together.”
Although mahjong is challenging, experienced players are willing to teach newcomers, Bhatti said. “They’re happy to teach someone if they want to learn.”
Bhatti noted that young people are increasingly joining the sessions, including a couple of Indian teenagers who visit regularly after school.
Global appeal
The international popularity and spread of mahjong over the centuries has seen the game flourish and evolve in a variety of ways. Besides the traditional Chinese versions, players now observe separate Japanese, Hong Kong, Taiwanese and American rules.
Abbie Wilson, 72, who has been playing mahjong for 30 years, described it as an international game. She learned how to play Cantonese mahjong in Singapore in 1992. “I was hooked, absolutely hooked from the word go,” she said, recalling how she was madly trying to find somebody who could play mahjong when she returned to the UK.
Wilson then organised a mahjong event on the Nextdoor app for her neighbourhood in Bristol, where she would also teach people. Initially, 16 people joined, and it has now been running for five years. The mahjong event eventually turned into “girly weekends”, chuckled Wilson, where people became hooked once they started playing. “They can’t stop. They absolutely love it,” she added.
“I think it changed people’s lives, maybe because they thought that it was good to sharpen their brains,” she said. “It’s nice to get together and play a game,” she added, “with a break halfway for a cup of tea, a piece of cake, and what have you.”
The mahjong group has a proper Hong Kong-made fold-out game table, as well as a foldable table top that she bought in Hong Kong when she lived in the city.
The players comprise retirees, and people from diverse ethnic backgrounds are involved.
Alison Hatcher, 66, learnt how to play Cantonese mahjong five years ago when she first joined Wilson, with whom she used to work.
“We played through the lockdown with masks on and used to meet and play outside if we could,” said Hatcher, “It’s combined with some walking and afternoon tea,” she added, describing it as a “mahjong weekend”.
“I love it,” said Hatcher, although she initially found it a lot to learn when she discovered the game. “It’s very sociable, and a lovely afternoon.”
Hatcher said mahjong is a great bridge between cultures because all the players have stories to share when they gather. “If you are the sort of person who wants to socialise, you want to join the group because it’s very friendly.” She said they all make mistakes from time to time, but everyone is very patient.
“It’s a learning curve. We are learning all the time,” she added. “It’s really nice. Very enjoyable.”
London has several mahjong groups. Patricia Plummer, 62, started organising a Chinese mahjong event at Knightsbridge’s Cadogan Gardens with the Open Age group on Friday afternoons, attracting at least three tables of players.
Plummer, whose husband is South Korean, learned mahjong when she lived in Japan and South Korea as a young woman.
When she returned to the UK, she wanted to start a mahjong group because many people she knew didn’t play the game. “So I thought the best way to do that is to teach mahjong. And I’ve got people to play with. And that’s what I’ve done,” she said.
She is proud that her students, who play the Chinese variant, look forward to playing as it keeps their brains active and keeps them busy. Most are seniors and the game gives them something to do and a place to interact with others.
“I’m playing purely for pleasure, for the camaraderie, to meet people, and just to spread the word about it. Look, this is a very nice, wonderful game. You can play mahjong, and you can take it as far as you want,” she said.
“I’m very proud of a lot of them because they actually beat me,” she said. With no joining fees, Plummer organises the event for fun, and her students have started teaching mahjong to their grandchildren.
In addition to Chinese mahjong, Plummer also started teaching Riichi mahjong a few months ago at a pub near Lord’s Cricket Ground. Riichi is slightly more technical and more rigid, while the Chinese version is faster and more free-flowing.
Competitive appeal
Mahjong has become an internationally competitive game. According to the European Mahjong Association (EMA), there are 22 member organisations across the region. The UK Mahjong Association (UKMA) was formed in 2010, making it the 15th national affiliate with the EMA.
UKMA chair Peter Langford first played Riichi 40 years ago when his father, who worked in Tokyo, brought home a set of game pieces.
The UKMA was founded after Langford invited his friend Ian Fraser, now the association’s president, to play Riichi. Langford said Fraser suggested “playing this game a bit more competitively rather than just having a social evening”. Structured tournaments soon followed.
Langford said their first competition as newcomers was in Hanover, Germany, for the European Championship. “We were totally taken aback by the competitiveness, the speed, and the enjoyment,” he said.
Many UKMA members are also bridge players, Langford said, highlighting similarities between the games in terms of strategy and skill.
Since its founding, the UKMA has grown and its members originate from all over the world. Encouragingly, there is a large contingent of players in their 20s and 30s, with about half of the official members being younger than 30.
“It’s very pleasing to see younger people play,” Langford said, explaining that many had learned the game at university and continued playing online, especially during the Covid pandemic. “But they’re now joining in, which is great.”
With competitions held across the UK, the association organises three ranking tournaments a year, typically lasting two days, with lunch provided and social gatherings held after matches.
“Sixty-odd people gather together and have a good time,” Langford said.
Once the tournaments begin, the atmosphere shifts.
“People have got their heads down,” Langford noted, describing the intense focus during play, when the sound of clicking tiles fills the air again, uniting people of different ages and cultural backgrounds around a game table.
