By Carrie Lee
Hong Kong - Mahjong, China's centuries-old betting game, has launched itself into cyberspace, creating virtual gaming houses where friends can gossip and lay a friendly wager.
The eastern equivalent of poker, mahjong is renowned for bringing friends together to chat and bet on the game played with 136 rectangular tiles.
Traditionally, players shuffle the tiles and assemble them face-down in four rows, or "walls", on a table. They then draw a set number of tiles and the first player to complete one of numerous required combinations wins.
The game, which calls for skill, wit and luck, originated in China about 2 000 years ago and has been a royal pastime since the Ming dynasty (1368-1644).
Now, mahjong has come of age and joined the Internet.
Global Internet sites are offering the game online, teaching people how to play and selling mahjong sets. There are also a host of portals on mahjong clubs.
"It is convenient to play online. All four players can play while sitting in their own homes," said Shiu Yeuk-yuen, chairperson of Hong Kong's Skynet, which is launching a mahjong cyberparlour at www.gameplayers.com.hk this month.
With the online version of the game, each player can be on a different continent or live in the same city.
"And you can chat on the table by typing in messages. There are (virtual) waitresses who massage the players' images online. It's cool," Shiu said with a laugh.
He expects "tens of thousands" of people to play mahjong on the company's portal where participation is free, but bets are not involved.
"I believe our online mahjong game will be very popular, as mahjong has always been," Shiu added.
The game's move into cyberspace mirrors its popularity in Chinese communities around the world, where it has even become the subject of news stories, court cases and ghost stories.
In mahjong-mad Hong Kong, housewives entertain themselves by playing the game. Mahjong tiles often clatter away during holidays or Chinese banquets, and commercial mahjong parlours and clubs abound.
"Time passes more easily with mahjong," said Cheng Wai-man, a housewife in her 50s. "It trains the memory. I play three to four times a week, for about three hours every time."
Others say the game reduces stress.
"It helps you relax, entertains and helps maintain ties among relatives and friends," said Maggie Chan, a 31-year-old clerk, who once played continuously for 10 hours.
For almost 50 years, Communist China has tried to discourage mahjong as gambling, corruption and one of the four "olds" - old ideas, old culture, old customs and old habits.
It was banned during the 1966 to 1976 Cultural Revolution, but outside mainland China, mahjong has become ever-more popular, with new variations such as mahjong playing cards and computer mahjong games competing with the traditional tiles.
Even Communist China had to give in to the game's popularity and in 1998 reclassified mahjong as a sport and allowed public tournaments.
The game has also featured in international literature, notably Amy Tan's bestselling novel "The Joy Luck Club", with scenes of four American Chinese women playing mahjong in the United States.
The game's legacy can be seen living on by the different kinds of mahjong around the world, including Taiwanese, mainland Chinese, Hong Kong Chinese, European, American and even Jewish versions. - Reuters