To better understand why the designs of mahjong tiles vary so much, it is necessary to go back to how and where mahjong developed. China has a long history of games, and with particular interest to a student of mahjong, card games. Chinese playing cards were originally woodblock prints on sheets...

"Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."  -Alice in Wonderland At a mah jongg tournament last year, I witnessed the player opposite me win four games in a row. Impossible? No. Improbable? Yes. I wanted to quit. I felt bad. I doubted myself. I was jealous. I had evil thoughts. But I smiled each...