Begin your experience with a pickup from your hotel and head to a nearby club to learn mahjong. Meet your teacher and get introduced to the interesting tiles—sticks, dots, characters, and wind tiles.

Learn the three core moves: “pong” (matching three identical tiles someone else discards), “kong” (drawing a fourth identical tile yourself), and “win” (completing a winning hand).

Once you’ve mastered the basics, join a real game.

After one round, you might fall in love with the feeling. This is more than learning a game—it’s gaining a precious pass to the heart of Chinese daily life, something you can show off at your next gathering back home.