Restaurants advertise "mahjong menus"―special quick meals to sandwich in between games.
Sometimes, people rent hotel rooms or sampans in typhoon shelters for no other purpose than to play mahjong. People also play mahjong on yachting excursions and in swimming costumes on beaches.
Birthday, wedding and anniversary parties are considered incomplete without games. The host usually sends invitations with a footnote reading: "come earlier for mahjong."
Mahjong is a popular game for non-Chinese as well as Chinese. Many Portuguese, Indians and Eurasians are as mad about the game as Chinese. Some of them rank among top best players.
For housewives, mahjong sessions usually start after lunch and last until midnight. Weekend games are often extended to Sunday morning.
Veteran players take pride in recounting non-stop marathon games that lasted three days and nights. Stakes range from a few dollars to U.S. $100 a game. One businessman is known to have lost more than U.S. $50,000 in one night.
Most Cantonese play the simple "old style" while non-Cantonese prefer the complicated, fancy "new style." Many "new style" players play with dazzling speed, finishing four rounds in less than 45-minutes.
Enjoying a thriving business are some 100 licensed parlors. They provide not only tables, tea and hot towels but "mahjong legs," a popular term for players. Parlor "legs" fill in when the clients are short of players. Parlors operate from noon to midnight. The operators collect commissions from the pot for every hand, ranging from three to 10 per cent of the pot. A medium-sized parlor with 20 tables nets about $200 a day.
Clients can play any number of hands. A player often walks in alone, plays with three parlor "legs" and quits when he considers he has won "enough," or has lost all his money. Sometimes, a player emerges from a mahjong parlor minus his wallet, his fountain pen, wrist watch and even his coat.
Mahjong is banned in Communist China. In Nationalist China, enthusiasm is confined to the 2,000,000 refugees from mainland China.
DOMINION HOTEL
VICTORIA, B.C. The Evergreen City of Canada"
If you are planning a visit to beautiful Victoria for one day, two days, a week or longer—the Dominion Hotel's Package Deal is sure to interest you.
A ONE DAY STAY for one person in a private room with both and TV. Including breakfast, dinner, theatre pass, museum pass, a local newspaper and free parking—all for $11.45.
A TWO DAY STAY for two adults in a deluxe room with double or fwtn beds, and television—four breakfasts, four dinners, two theatre tickets, two museum passes, and a beautiful Victoria rose for the ladies —all included for $35.25.
The Dominion Hotel Deal is not restricted to certain days. It is good from Monday to Monday. Whether you come to Victoria via Port Angeles or Tswowassen, you're certain to enjoy the scenic trip and your stay in the Capitol City.
Write, Wire or Phone for Reservations at the
DOMINION HOTEL
759 Yates, Victoria, B.C. Telephone EV 4-4136
CHINATOWN NEWS, MAR. 3, 1964
