Classic Chinese games are a very important part of Chinese culture. I am going to introduce to you how to play the Classic Chinese games, Chinese Chess (Xiangqi), Go (Weiqi), and Majong (Mahjong).

Introduction of Chinese Chess (Xiangqi) 

Chinese Chess or Xiangqi is a variant of chess. Chinese Chess might have the same ancestor, the old Indian Chaturanga, as 'Western Chess'. Chaturanga is believed the oldest form of chess, played around the 7th century after Christ. 

Chinese Chess is the most popular game in the world. It is estimated there are as many as half a billion people who know how to play the game. Chinese Chess is a very popular game in China. You often can see people play the game on street using a large chess set. Some players may hit the board hard at some moves to show his power. Since the pieces are large (about 2 inches in diameter), the effect is dramatic. They may also say or sing something to do the trick. Usually there are a few people watching the game. If they know both players (sometimes even they don't know the players), they may point out some moves for one or both players. To prevent the helpers to say anything during a game, the players often remind them by saying 'watching but not telling, a true gentleman'. 

Chinese Chess is very easy to play, but the rules are very different from 'Western Chess'. Once you know the rules, you just need practice to get better like anything else. The Internet is a good place to start since you can always find somebody to play. 

Introduction of Go or Weiqi

Legend says Yao invented go in order to instruct his son Dan Zhu. Yao was a semi-mythical emperor of the 23rd century BC, so go might be invented around 4,000 years ago! Go belongs to one of the Four Arts, qin (music), qi (go), shu (poetry and calligraphy), and hua (painting), in ancient China. 

Go is most popular in China, Japan, and Korea. Go is a much deeper game than Chinese chess. Chinese chess is more a folk game and go is more popular in those with higher education. I am not a good player, but I find that observing games played by some of the best players in the world has as much fun as playing a game myself. While observing, you can guess the next move the player might move, so you can learn from it. Even I am a really poor player, I might find out some bad moves made by those world class players. The thing is the game really get your attention and you have to think about it. The game is just like life. We start from nothing, then we add a little bit more at each move. We make some good moves and some bad moves. At one point, it becomes so complicated, we can't even figure out what to do or what's the best move, but we have to. We often call go 'the black and white world'. 

Introduction of Majong 

Majong or Mahjong is a gambler's game in China. If you don't put money in the game, there will be not much fun. Most people in China play the game using some faked money or a few dollars in the game just for the sake of gambling. Majong was forbidden during the culture revolution and it is now popular again. You might even hear the playing sound when you go near the windows or the door of your neighbor at night. Since majong is associated with gambling, unlike Chinese chess or go (weiqi) (both are very popular official games), no official majong competition is held anywhere in China. 

Majong was invented long long time ago in China. There are many theories about the origin of majong. A majong set has 144 beautiful tiles, which may be classified into four suits, the bamboo, circle, character, and wind. In each suit, there are 36 tiles. The wind suit includes the flowers, dragons and winds. American majong sets usually have 166 tiles.