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Chinese Mahjong

Traditional Chinese Mahjong Set - Ochre

The traditional game in its standard form, 144 tiles across 3 suits with winds, dragons, flowers and seasons, and no jokers.

The 144 count nearly every book, app and club assumes
No jokers, so scoring works exactly as the rules describe
A first set for learning the game as the world plays it
Light enough to move between houses without a second bag

$149.99

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Flat $9.95 shipping · 30-day returns from delivery

What 144 tiles actually contains

The traditional set is precisely defined and it is worth knowing before comparing sets. 108 suit tiles: bamboo, characters and circles, numbered one to 9, 4 of each. 16 winds, 4 each of east, south, west and north. 12 dragons, 4 each of red, green and white. Then 8 flowers and seasons.

That is 144. There are no jokers, and there are no blanks in a strict traditional set.

Chinese and American are different games

This is the single most useful thing to understand before buying mahjong, and the mistake behind most returns. The American game uses 166 tiles including jokers, and is played from a card published annually by the National Mah Jongg League. The Chinese game uses these 144 and is scored on patterns rather than a card.

The equipment does not cross over. Someone in an American league cannot play with this set, and someone learning from a Chinese or Japanese source cannot use an American one.

Learning on a traditional set

Almost every book, video and app teaches the 144 tile game, because it is what most of the world plays. Starting here means the instruction matches the tiles in front of you, which sounds obvious and saves a great deal of confusion.

The variants, Cantonese, Riichi, Singaporean, all build on this same tile set with different scoring. One set covers all of them.

Care

Barely damp cloth, out of heat, stored contained. Count the tiles back in at the end of a session: a set missing one tile cannot be played properly and single tiles cannot be replaced.

144 mahjong tiles

Tiles: 144
Set weight: 1.5 lb (0.66 kg)

Tiles	144
Composition	108 suit tiles, 16 winds, 12 dragons, 8 flowers and seasons
Weight	0.7 kg (1.5 lb)
Age	14 and over

Three things tell you more about a set than its price.

Weight. A full-size set runs around 2 to 3 kg; a travel set can be under 1 kg. That difference is what you feel when you shuffle, and it is listed in the specifications on every page here.

Material. Melamine and acrylic give a bright click. Stone, bone and denser composites are duller and heavier in the hand. Neither is better: they suit different tables.

Tile size. From 30 mm upward reads comfortably from the seat opposite. Between 24 and 29 mm suits two players better than four. Below 24 mm is made to pack, not to read at a distance.

You do not need an expensive set to play well. You need one your table can read and you are happy to handle.

Orders are processed within 1 to 2 business days, with tracking on every parcel. Delivery across the United States takes 10 to 25 days and costs $9.95, one flat rate charged once per order whatever the number of items.

Changed your mind? You have 30 days from delivery to request a return, unused and in its original packaging. Approved refunds go back to your original payment method within 3 business days.

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Play tonight

Tiles, and everything the case holds, in one box. Unwrap it, deal a hand, and your table is running.

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The sound alone

Shuffling a real set is half the pleasure. Weight in your hand, that clack across the table: you can hear it before you see it.

history

Yours for twenty years

A set outlasts the group it started with. Choose one you'll still want on the table when someone else is dealing.

Frequently asked questions

Count and content. The traditional Chinese set is 144 tiles: 108 suit tiles, 16 winds, 12 dragons, and 8 flowers and seasons, with no jokers. The American set runs 166, adds jokers, and is played from a card published each year rather than from fixed patterns. The two do not share equipment, so an American league player cannot sit down with this set, and someone learning from a Chinese source cannot use theirs.

As a purchase, the range runs from very little up to several thousand for carved stone or antique bone and bamboo. Material, tile size and completeness set the number, in that order. As a resale, a modern set is worth what it is worth to play with, and one missing a single tile is worth almost nothing, because 144 has to be 144. This is a light everyday set at 0.7 kg, and it is priced as one.

The most useful first set is a plain 144 tile one, because that is the count every book, video and app outside America teaches from, and matching the tiles to the instruction removes a whole layer of confusion. Here that means 108 suit tiles, 16 winds, 12 dragons, 8 flowers and seasons, no jokers. At 0.7 kg it also travels between houses, which is how most people learn: at somebody else's table.

Authentic is better read as correct than as exotic. A traditional set is defined by its contents, 144 tiles across bamboo, characters and circles, plus winds, dragons, flowers and seasons, and any set matching that is the real game whatever it is made of. The thing to avoid is buying an American set by mistake, since its jokers and 166 count make it unusable for Cantonese, Riichi or Singaporean play.

Play in Style with The Mahjong Section

A mahjong set is handled more than almost anything else in the house: every tile passes through four pairs of hands, several times a game.

That is what we select for. Tiles that read clearly from the far side of the table, edges that stay clean, and a case that still closes after a few seasons of being carried around.

A Set Worth Collecting

Sets differ in ways that only show at the table: the weight of a tile in the hand, how a crak reads from three seats away, whether the case survives the trip to a friend’s house.

When we have the figures, we publish them: tile count, tile size, weight and material. When we do not have one, we leave it out rather than guess.