The 2022 Winter Olympic Games will be held in China, and the country is now working on turning some mind sports such as Mahjong into performance games at the grand event. It's similar to the card game rummy. CGTN's He Weiwei picks up the tiles.

 

Mahjong, an invention from ancient China. And still, one of the most popular leisure activities in the country.

 

HE WEIWEI GUANGZHOU "To play Mahjong, you need four people, and a square table. But before that, it may take you a little time to recognize all of the tiles. "

 

A set of mahjong usually includes 136 tiles with different patterns, like dots - or circles, bamboo designs, and characters. Each of the three patterns are divided into four sets of numbers, 1 to 9. Besides that, there are also 16 Wind tiles and 12 Dragon tiles. Roll the dice to determine the dealer, and the game begins. Each player gets 13 tiles, and the dealer gets 14 to discard one. To win, you need to gather 4 sets and a pair, each set can be either a triplet or three tiles of consecutive numbers in the same pattern.

 

HE WEIWEI GUANGZHOU "I'm giving you an example here. Look, I've already got a pair and three sets: a pair of two (characters) and 789 characters. 234 dots, and a triplet of 8 dots. Now I'm waiting for a 3 bamboo to make the set of 234."

 

Playing Mahjong requires skill, calculation, and a bit of luck.

 

HE WEIWEI GUANGZHOU "Hu le" means win - it's a very important word, remember that."

 

Originating from China, Mahjong is gaining popularity in Asia, America, and Europe. The First World Mahjong Sports Games were held in China in 2015, and in April 2017, Mahjong was officially recognized as one of the six mind sports in the world, alongside bridge, chess, go, Chinese chess and draughts. HE Weiwei, CGTN, Guangzhou.