Types of People Who Play the Ancient Chinese Game－Mahjong

張貼日期：May 24, 2015 1:38:58 PM

Iris Chen

When you walk back home, you may hear the sounds of something mixing and hitting together, which are loud and clear. The sounds come from the house where people are playing mahjong. It is the most common game for people to play in Taiwan, which you can see everywhere. Who are the people who take playing mahjong as a leisure activity? There are three types that play it often: people who just want to kill time, people who reunite with their family or friends, and the elderly.

The first type of people plays mahjong because they want to kill time. Those are people who have free time but don’t know what to do during the leisure time. It cannot be denied that playing mahjong is the best way to pass the time easily. When people are playing the game, they concentrate on the game so much that they forget about the time. Lots of elderly people play mahjong after they retired because they have nothing else to do.

The second type of people who play mahjong is people who reunite with their family or friends after a period of time. For people who don’t see each other for a long time, playing mahjong seems the best way to get together and chitchat about details in life. For example, during Chinese New Year when people are home together, they play mahjong. When guests come for a visit, the host may invite them to play mahjong. It is an easy and convenient way for a gathering since what is required is only a table and four chairs!

The last type of people is the elderly. It is reported that if old people play mahjong once or several times a week, they are less likely to get dementia. Studies show that it is good for the elderly to play mahjong. It can prevent them from suffering Alzheimer's disease, for they have to think during the game. To win over other people, a player has to remember what cards others have. They have to focus on the game, or they may lose. So playing mahjong is good for old people to keep mentally active.

To sum up, there are three major types of people who play mahjong as a leisure activity: people who want to kill time, people who reunite with their family or friends, and the elderly. They have different reasons for playing mahjong. I think playing mahjong can be a beneficial game to many people as long as they do not become addicted to it.