Behind Charlotte's Mahjong boom
At a Charlotte mahjong 'boot camp,' players learn about 'crak,' 'bam' and 'dot'
The following article appeared in the March 25, 2024, edition of The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with smart and original local news for Charlotte. We offer free and paid subscription plans. More info here.
The ancient Chinese tile game Mahjong is becoming so popular, Charlotte businesses are starting to teach people how to play; will it replace bridge?
Nearly two dozen women gathered on a recent Thursday for the Queen City Mahjong Boot Camp, a 4-hour workshop that teaches the rules of the Chinese tile game mahjong. The game’s popularity has increased in Charlotte in recent years, prompting people like Jill Graham (pictured standing in blue sweater) to start a teaching business.
by Lindsey Banks
As Jill Graham threw out words like “crak,” “bam” and “dot” on a recent Thursday morning, eyes widened and mouths went slack across the room of 23 women. For many, it was their first time getting a good look at the intricate tiles used to play mahjong — and learning the words to describe them.
The women were there for the Queen City Mahjong “Boot Camp,” a 4-hour lesson to learn the rules and strategy of the American version of mahjong, a Chinese tile strategy game whose popularity has increased in Charlotte over the past few years.
(In case your eyes just bulged, too, “crak” refers to the suit of tiles with Chinese characters, “bam” is the bamboo suit and “dot” is the circle suit. Think hearts, diamonds, spades and clubs.)
Graham, who started her Queen City Mahjong teaching business in late 2021, said the combination of cinematic scenes in “Crazy Rich Asians” and “The Marvelous Ms. Maisel” and the desire for socialization during the pandemic have contributed to a major mahjong boom in the U.S.
Graham started her business by teaching private lessons to small groups. She’s now expanded to larger group lessons and rents out a room in the Junior League of Charlotte building in Myers Park to host her boot camps.
The boot camp was retired teacher Mary Gregory’s first time at a Queen City Mahjong lesson. Gregory, 68, has been playing mahjong since January with her weekly church group at Christ Episcopal Church. Although she understands the basic rules, she said she wants to learn how to win.
“I’ve been learning on my own, but I just need a teacher to show me strategy,” Gregory told The Ledger.
As a four-person luck and strategy game, mahjong is on its way to becoming the new bridge, Graham said.
Another student, Julie Kavanagh, 57, said all of her friends know how to play mahjong except her, so it was time to learn. She attended the boot camp to learn the basics.
“I don’t know what I don’t know,” she said with a laugh.
Graham reassured her that it would all make sense soon.
An old game with new fame: Mahjong (also spelled “mah jongg”) originated in China in the 1800s and became popular among the Jewish American community in the 1950s. Mahjong has been played in the United States dating back to the 1920s but gained more visibility over the past few years, like Graham said, thanks to pop culture and movies. (If you haven’t seen the mahjong scene in “Crazy Rich Asians,” it’s worth a watch.)
There are different versions of the game, usually depending on what country you live in. Queen City Mahjong teaches the American version and uses the scorecard produced by the National Mah Jongg League, a nonprofit organization based in New York City. The nonprofit has put out a new scorecard every year for the past 86 years with different winning tile combinations, called “hands,” to keep the game fresh and updated.
Mahjong groups have sprouted across Charlotte, like Mahj In The City, another teaching business in Charlotte that offers private and group lessons. Although Graham said she originally noticed retired women as the key demographic of players, she’s seen a recent increase in younger players.
Business roots: Graham said she never set out to be a mahjong teacher. During the pandemic, she and a group of friends taught themselves to play to keep busy during quarantine. Graham dug into blog posts, watched YouTube videos and read “Beginners Guide to American Mahjong” by Elaine Sanderson.
When other people learned that Graham had become skilled at mahjong, they started asking her to come teach them how to play. From there, Graham got enough interest that she realized she could make money from her mahjong expertise. She says she spends 15 hours a week planning and teaching lessons.
She started with private lessons for small friend groups who wanted to expand their book club or parent groups. Now, she also offers the boot camps, which are 4-hour classes to learn how to play mahjong and practice the game. The cost is $150 per person, and Graham has four assistants whom she hires to help out.
Private lessons cost anywhere from $50 to $75 per person depending on how big of a group, she said.
While it’s usually women who sign up for her lessons, Graham says men occasionally attend. Her students range in age from the 30s to 70s.
Graham does most of her business through Instagram from people who message her for private lessons.
For small groups who are interested in learning to play, Graham recommends signing up for at least two private lessons. She said most groups usually take three to four lessons.
As she’s grown the business, Queen City Mahjong has partnered with The Mahjong Line, a Dallas-based Mahjong set company that makes unique and intricately decorated tiles. Sets range from $375 to $450. Amazon also has some quality sets for a lower price, she said.
Graham said she owns six sets of mahjong tiles, and her assistants each own a set or two, so people who book lessons do not need to have their own mahjong set.
Learning and laughs: As the boot camp continued and the mahjong novices became more sure of themselves, hands started shooting up with women asking about the different winning tile combinations, or hands, as they played a practice round.
They learned insider lingo, like “soap” (a white dragon piece that looks like a rectangle), and they learned American mahjong traditions, like when the bird tile in the bamboo suit is played, some people like to raise a toast to the “one bam bird.”
Graham also touched on mahjong etiquette, like keeping your hands to your own game pieces.
“You’re not supposed to touch other people’s racks,” Graham said.
When she said that, the room exploded, partially with laughter and partially with relief.
They were finally understanding mahjong humor.
Lindsey Banks is a staff reporter for The Ledger: lindsey@cltledger.com
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