Yellow Mountain Imports Standard Chinese Mahjong (Mah Jong,

Tochter und ihr Mann haben sich gefreut.

The set and case are beautiful. The tiles sit in their trays like a box of very expensive chocolates. The colours are clear and the tiles are big enough to handle easily. The box is nicely made and looks good, but I doubt it would stand up to much travel without stating to look battered. The handle appears sturdy enough, but I suspect it would start to work loose if the box was carried very far by the handle. The tiles sit in four removable trays covered in a red velvet like material, and appear sturdy enough for the job. Accessories sit in a fifth removable tray. Reading other reviews i see the following complaints;- The tiles are too small/light The ties are too big/heavy No western numbering Chemical smell Re the size, as is stated in the description, the tiles are 32 mm tall. this makes them smallish by Chinese mahjong standards, where 40mm tiles are fast becoming the norm, and sizes up to 46 mm can be bought. On the other hand Japanese players use 26 or 28 mm tiles. so it depends what you are used to. The tile size seems like a good compromise. They are also pretty thick, so they stand easily. For the record, each tile weights 16g. for comparison tiles in another set I have, which are 37mm tall weigh 30g. Those that complain about the lack of western numbering have obviously not read the description or looked at the photos. If you need Arabic numbering these are not the tiles for you. On the other hand it is not difficult to learn the four winds and the 5-9 characters, then you are ready to go. The set arrived when Amazon said it would, and was well packaged, in two layers or cardboard box with foam padding between the inner cardboard box and wooden mahjong box. it arrived in perfect condition. There is a slight chemical smell, as you open the lid of the box. This, I'm sure will disappear in time. It's really not an issue. There are 148 tiles, including 4 blanks. The normal Chinese set including flower and wind tiles. You can play Chinese versions of the game, and Japanese Riichi providing you don't mind playing without red fives. It's not suitable for American mahjong version So, I'm very happy with the set. I have no complaints about either the quality or the description. It will be be used for playing at home, or transported to other peoples houses in a car and not carried by the handle.

I'll start with the negatives: 1. The die that comes in the wind marker had to be sanded down a little because it was slightly too big, so it would get completely wedged into the holder. Sanding it down was very simple, though, because it is a soft wood. Since I haven't seen anyone else complain about this, I think I just got an odd one. 2. Many of the tiles have very small cracks around the carved characters. This is just an aesthetic issue. 3. The tiles were covered in weird factory dust when I took them out of the cellophane. I had to dust each tile individually with a rag. But hey, they're brand new, so that's not unexpected. Plus I won't have to do that again (until I have to clean them). 4. the included dice look like they were painted under the influence. It's a really shoddy paint job. They almost look perpetually dirty. Fortunately, they are one of the cheapest, most easily replaced parts of the set. They just kind of ruin the effect of the beautiful tiles and case. 5.The included instructions can just be thrown away. Yes, the set comes with a small instructional leaflet, but it has some weird flaws, and if you don't already play, I'm not sure that these instructions will help much, especially when strange situations arise during gameplay. You can try learning from them, but I recommend you get a book or find someone who plays to teach you. Now let's talk about the positives, which in my opinion FAR outweigh the negatives: 1. The tiles themselves are absolutely perfect (aside from the tiny, non-threatening cracks mentioned above). They slide very nicely, the characters are crystal clear (and look nicer than the characters on standard HK-style tiles, IMHO), and they are a very good size. They are just a tad smaller than the normal HK ones, but they are certainly big enough to see, handle, and not be afraid of losing any; in fact, we play on a card table, and the slightly smaller size makes all the difference. As for the clarity of the characters, this would be a good set to teach with even if it didn't have the Arabic numerals and Roman letters because you can see every stroke on the tiles (unlike tiles where the 發 and 萬 are just a green and red blur, respectively). However, in my area of the US, anyone who's heard of the game usually associates it with the words "ridiculously difficult," so it's nice to have the western indexes on the tiles so that at least no one can use the "I can't read Chinese, and I'm too lazy to learn the whopping 15 characters necessary to distinguish the tiles" excuse. 2. The case and trays feel very solid. I was afraid that at least the trays would be flimsy, but they feel pretty substantial. The case itself is also very sturdy, and the handle on the case feels more stable than the handle on our box with the good flatware in it. Both the box and the trays are lined with a velvety sort of material, which is also on the bottom of the case, so you can put it on a wooden table without worrying about scratching it. In size, shape, look, feel, and overall impression, the case really does remind me of the sort of case you'd expect to find real silver silverware in. 3. This one is more of a heads up: when I bought this, the picture showed betting sticks instead of chips, but the description said it came with chips, and I saw another reviewer confirm that it came with chips, not sticks. Well, mine definitely came with sticks, and I love them. They are much easier the handle than those cheap MJ chips that sets usually come with. Plus they make you feel a little more traditional when playing. Overall, the whole set is so nice to look at and to handle that I can hardly describe how much I love it. A great purchase. If you are giving this as a gift, it should be well appreciated; HOWEVER, do remember that despite the western markings, this is a set for Chinese mahjong, as it has only 144 tiles (no jokers). It won't work for American styles of mahjong.

Muy bonito set; si las fichas fueran un poco más grandes sería genial. La caja de madera también es bonita.

Everything is fine but the golden background is a little too much.