Grassroots mah-jong clubs explode in popularity across Metro Vancouver

Owen Chong and Greg Kuntjoro started their mah-jong group about a year ago in a living room with just four tables and 20 of their closest friends.

Since then, the co-founders of Vancouver-based Dragon Tile Social Club have seen an explosion in the number of people who want to attend their mah-jong  sessions.

They are one of several grassroots groups riding a wave of fresh interest in the ancient Chinese tile game that is usually played by three or four players and involves drawing and discarding from a set of 144 tiles to form winning combinations.

Tickets sell out immediately for the Dragon Tile Social Club’s monthly mah-jong sessions. Each event typically draws more than 80 players and waiting lists have reached over 100 people, says Chong.

The club has set up tables in a variety of not-so-traditional venues, including small cafés, the lobby of RBC Place in downtown Vancouver and the large cafeteria at Ikea in Richmond. The event at Ikea was held on Halloween night and was a big hit.

“Over the four-hour session, we had 80-plus attendees in the cafeteria area of Ikea, and attendees left with goodie bags, Ikea food, and a ton of games played,” says Chong.

The surge in mah-jong’s popularity was documented earlier this year in a Smithsonian magazine article, which described how “the 200-year-old tile game is popping up in clubs, hotels and parties” from Los Angeles to New York, as a “way for Gen Zers and millennials to connect.”

There have also been efforts in recent years to energize spaces in Vancouver’s Chinatown by bringing together younger mah-jong players with mostly older women, so-called mah-jong aunties and grannies.

Kuntjoro thinks it’s great to see this appetite for the game from the younger demographic.

“Older game, younger audience, we say. We see a very balanced mix of men and women at our events too,” he says.

Chong says they try to curate the experience toward young, working professionals in the city.

They are the ones who often “have trouble making new friends in Vancouver, especially those who have recently graduated from university. Everything from the location, to the DJ, to the poster design (for the event) is made specifically for the younger community.”

The club has also seen an increase in beginner players who “have found this community critical to learning how to play such a classic, cultural game in an easygoing environment,” says Chong.

Next year, they want to hold more playing sessions in outdoor spaces, such as beaches and parks.

They also have in mind venues, such as the Vancouver Public Library’s Central Library downtown, which has a “lovely terrace up top,” says Kuntjoro.

Lucky Tile Mah-jong Events is another mah-jong group that is helping to increase the number of new players.

“We want to help build a critical mass of players so that we can start to host more socials,” says co-founder Sandy Gunn.

She and co-founder Vivian McCormick used to be part of a group of businesswomen who regularly played the game at the Terminal City Club and called themselves Joy Luck Club Vancouver.

In the past six months, Lucky Tile has run five sessions for mah-jong players at CF Richmond Centre with each engaging about 200 participants, including those playing, observing and inquiring, says Gunn.

“One family of four told us their two daughters, age 10, were waiting all month for this event. They were at the last one. And this time, they brought five families with them and their grandmother. The girls played for a few hours and some of the parents played at the table next to them.”

Lucky Tile has run a variety of sessions to introduce new players to the game and offer practice times for more seasoned competitors.

Some, like the ones for Richmond Centre, are events for corporate clients looking to bring the game to their spaces or employees.

“For the socials we have run, we have done our best to match up similar experience levels. In general, I think when people come out for social mah-jong, they are OK about mixing levels,” says Gunn.

She can hardly believe they have only been taking on this new venture since April.

“We’ve met lovely humans, connected people in real life and introduced, reintroduced people to a game that is special to both of us.”

jlee-young@postmedia.com

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