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Mah-jongg is becoming as hip as martinis in New York, but in Hong Kong, this Chinese game is far from 'cool.'
The Jiun Bao Mahjong Club is a typical mah-jongg parlor in Hong Kong. It is open 24 hours. There are no fancy party treats or opened bottles of wine. The room is stark and simple. The players, in their most casual clothes, are focused on the game. And the tables are occupied by an almost always all-Chinese crowd - 70% are women in their 40s or older.
'Most of the time, we get office ladies or tai tais (married women) who come and play at the end of the day from 6 p.m. until 2 in the morning,' says club manager Raymond Suen. 'Some come in a group of four friends, and others we can match up to other tables short of a player.'
It's not retro, just old.
'There are some younger kids who play mah-jongg, but it's not seen as something posh more so than seedy. Mah-jongg is gambling, after all. And there are always scenes of gangsters getting busted in mah-jongg parlors in local movies,' says Ilona Yim, Island Shangri-la Hotel's communications director. Ms. Yim says the hotel clients who ask for mah-jongg tables to be set up are usually doing so as part of weddings or birthday celebrations, when the game is usually played in accordance with tradition.
'Ninety percent of our weddings are Asian-style, and mah-jongg games are a traditional part of that culture, so we offer it with the package,' she explains. 'But it's usually for the in-laws and elders to play. My mother plays mah-jongg, but I never bothered to learn the game.'
One reason why Hong Kong's younger generation isn't playing mah-jongg is the huge investment of time it requires. 'A proper mah-jongg game can last eight hours or a whole day,' says Daniel Law, the banquet manager for Hong Kong's Ladies Recreation Club, which offers mah-jongg rooms for rent. 'Mah-jongg works on a point system, and you can't just pull out after one round of games.'
Adds Ms. Yim, 'When played seriously, as it is here in Hong Kong, mah-jongg is an extremely difficult game. It takes patience and concentration and the rules aren't easy to pick up.'
In fact, that Ms. Yim says her parents used to say all eligible bachelors should be put to the test - a game of mah-jongg with her three aunties. 'By the end of the day, you'll know everything' about that boy's character, she says her parents told her.
麻将在纽约的流行程度可与马提尼酒相提并论，但在香港，这个中国游戏还远远称不上“酷”。
香港君俊商务酒店旗下的君宝麻将俱乐部在香港属于普通麻将馆，24小时开放。这里不提供精致的聚会点心，也没有开瓶葡萄酒。麻将馆的房间十分简陋，在这里玩麻将的人穿着也十分随意，他们全部的注意力都放在玩麻将上了。几乎所有麻将桌都一直被中国人霸占，其中70%是四十几岁或更老一些的妇女。
麻将馆经理Raymond Suen说，麻将馆的主要客人是办公室白领女性或结了婚的太太，她们一般从晚上六点打到凌晨两点;有些是四个朋友相约一起来，有些是散客，我们会帮忙把散客安排到三缺一的桌子上。
在香港，打麻将不是刮复古风，就是老传统而已。
港岛香格里拉大酒店(Island Shangri-la Hotel)公关经理Ilona Yim说，年轻人也有玩麻将的，这种游戏虽然称不上龌龊，但也登不上大雅之堂，打麻将毕竟是赌博，而且香港电影里总有黑帮分子在麻将馆里被逮个正着的场面。Ilona Yim小姐说，酒店客人若要求摆放麻将桌，通常都是为婚庆或生日宴会做准备，按照习俗，这样的场合一般是要打麻将的。
她解释说，我们承办的婚礼当中有90%都是亚洲式婚礼，而打麻将是亚洲传统文化的一部分，所以我们的打包价里包括提供麻将设施，不过一般都是新娘新郎的家里人和上了年纪的人玩麻将;我妈妈也会打麻将，不过我从来没学过。
香港年轻一代之所以不打麻将，其中一个原因是打麻将需要耗费大量时间。香港妇女游乐会(Ladies Recreation Club)宴会经理Daniel Law说，麻将若要好好打，可持续八个小时或一整天;麻将玩的是积分制，所以不能打一圈之后就拍屁股走人。该游乐会有可供租赁的打麻将的房间。
Ilona Yim小姐补充说，麻将牌要认真玩起来，就像香港这里一样，那可是难度极大的一个游戏，需要耐心和注意力高度集中，要弄懂其中的规则不是那么容易的。
实际上，Ilona Yim小姐说，她父母过去常常跟她讲，她心仪的所有单身男性都应该经过一番考验，即和她三个姑妈打打麻将，这样一天下来就会了解这个男孩性格的方方面面。 (实习编辑：顾萍) |
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发表于 2016-7-10 17:35:28