Chinese Rosewood Mahjong Set with Bat Decoration

Chinese Rosewood Mahjong Set with Bat Decoration Review

Chinese Rosewood Mahjong Set with Bat Decoration Feature

• Contains 144 tiles: 36 Circles, 36 Bamboos, 36 Characters, 12 Dragons, 16 Winds (N, S, E, W), 8 Flowers.
• Includes three dice, a set of betting sticks, and four wind tiles for determining seating placement.
• The case measures 13-3/8L x 7-5/8''W x 3-1/4''H (33.9cm x 19.3cm x 8.2cm)
• Tiles measure 1-1/4''L x 7/8''W x 5/16''H (3.2cm x 2.3cm x 1.5cm) and are inscribed with Chinese characters only
• PLEASE NOTE: This is a traditional Chinese mahjong set designed for Chinese mahjong rules. It does not contain joker tiles or racks and has only eight flowers tiles! If you are buying this set as a gift and are unsure whether the recipient plays American or Chinese style mahjong, your best bet is to purchase an American set. American sets contain all the tiles for the Chinese version of the game as well as additional tiles for the American version.

When mahjong first caught on in America in the 1920s, the elegant sets imported from Shanghai looked like this: finely polished cases made from elm and rosewood and hand painted tiles made from cattle bone and bamboo. This set is a reproduction of those classic sets, crafted by hand from snow white cattle bone and delicate slabs of native Chinese bamboo. The cover is inlaid with a bone design of bats. Bats are a symbol of good luck in Chinese (and particularly among mahjong players), as the Chinese word for bat ''fu'' is a homonym for the word for luck. Please note that this is a hand made mahjong set made with natural materials using traditional methods. Each tile is cut and carved one piece a time, and the characters are inked by hand. Hand cut bone and bamboo tiles are slightly smaller than fiberglass mahjong tiles, and coloring and shape varies slightly from tile to tile and set to set.