Mahjong Board Game

Chinese mahjong finds new fans in Denmark

01.01.70

By Yang Jingzhong, Devapriyo Das

COPENHAGEN, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- The rattle of plastic tiles and relaxed conversation fills the air in a community center hall in eastern Copenhagen, where a group of Danes are playing mahjong, a traditional Chinese board game.

In Denmark, whose population is crazy about football, handball and cycling, mahjong's intellectual challenge and exoticism have raised its profile in recent years.

"The beauty of the tiles inspired me to start playing. They are quite exotic to a European person," said Tina Christensen, chairman of Mahjong Denmark (MD), a national association for Danish mahjong players.

"Later, I became fascinated by the many variants in the game. When you get a new hand of tiles, you have a new mystery to solve, and that is very fascinating," she told Xinhua before the New Year's Day.

Christensen, a researcher at the Danish Meteorological Institute, the country's weather forecasting bureau, founded the mahjong association in 2000 so as to "play the game in an organized and regular way," she said.

Source: Xinhua