Mahjong mania: What’s behind the rise of a centuries-old Chinese game in the US

The mantra refers to mahjong, a 19th century Chinese tile game that has long been popular in the Asian diaspora, along with an American version established in Jewish communities. But in 2026, American mahjong social clubs, leagues and tile designers are sweeping through suburbs in the American South and beyond.

Mahjong, a four-person game similar to rummy, skyrocketed in popularity in the past year following a spike in interest at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Yelp searches for mahjong clubs rose 4,467% in 2025, and searches for “mahjong store” and “mahjong club” reached an all-time high in August 2026.

It’s turned into a pricey consumer ecosystem. On top of private social clubs, small, women-led businesses also sell ornate tile sets and monogrammed bags for the fanciest of game nights.

But the mahjong boom has also sparked a fresh debate​ about cultural appropriation and who gets the profit.

In Charlotte, North Carolina, a boutique mahjong studio called Heron House opened this year, with a manicured garden spilling out from its brick exterior. Inside, its tables have purse hooks and places for wine glasses alongside custom wallpaper in its mahjong room.

The aesthetics are everything for the clubs popping up around the country.

House of Sweet Tea & MAHJ, a candle-shop-turned-mahjong-studio near Nashville, Tennessee, has been described as “Barbie’s Dreamhouse,” owner Jennifer Deaton said. The Mahj Clubs in Scottsdale, Arizona, is “kind of like a mini country club,” Julia Zastrow, the mahjong studio’s co-founder and manager, told CNN.

Courtesy Julia Zastrow

At Heron House, members pay up to $179 a month and receive discounts on tile sets that can cost up to $475. The studio has 70 members, the company said. It also holds events where walk-ins can play for $15 to be donated to charity.

Courtesy Charolette Obringer

“Mahj” can now be a noun, verb and somewhat of a personality trait: You can buy beverage napkins with the phrase “Mahjong with Mah-girls,” or a pouch to hold tiles that says: “Get Your Mahj On.”

From Etsy to Hobby Lobby stores, the game’s newest converts rush to shop viral sets before they sell out .

Oh My Mahjong, which was founded four years ago, sells tiles for every theme, from a colorful Palm Royale to cheetah print. (A different company called Peace Love Mahjong features a glittery Taylor Swift set for $290.) You’ll also need a printed mat, acrylic racks, a stylish storage bag and shufflers.

Courtesy Oh My Mahjong

In total, a set with all the accessories from Oh My Mahjong start at $660 and can cost up to $925 . The biggest American mahjong fans can even own cabinets full of mats and tiles.

Oh My Mahjong said it made $40 million last year and is on track to reach $100 million by year-end. (CNN wasn’t able to independently verify these numbers, since Oh My Mahjong’s financial documents are not publicly available.)

The new American mahjong clubs often incorporate elevated Southern hosting. The need for an ornate space has expanded outside of living rooms to dozens of mahjong parlors throughout the country.

As Megan Trottier, the founder of tile company Oh My Mahjong, told the New York Times for a story about home decor: “Mahjong is becoming this beautiful way of hosting — not just slapping a game on a table.”

There’s another audience in the mahjong resurgence, too: young Asian Americans who are reconnecting with their roots at mahjong events. They’re largely pop-ups and community-based, and often have a retro, sexy feel — reminiscent of Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-Kai’s vibrant movies.

Courtesy Jennelle Fong

Taiwanese American Angie Lin has found success running in high-brow events and partnerships, all rooted in Asian culture. Her company, East Never Loses, hosted a full mahjong room at a star-studded Lunar New Year party hosted by Hennessey, Netflix and Gold House, with Heated Rivalry’s Hudson Williams, Bridgerton star Yerin Ha, and SNL alumnus Bowen Yang in attendance.

“To see all these big celebrities playing this game and fighting to get into the mahjong room,” Lin said. “I felt so proud, even though I’m just as proud of the 10-person riichi mahjong lesson that I’m throwing tomorrow.”

Jacob Chang, who’s half-Ecuadorian and half-Chinese, founded Red Eye, a mahjong social club in Tampa, Florida. At a beginner’s mahjong night at a local bar, tables largely full of young professionals engaged in friendly competition over Hong Kong-style sets as Chang emceed over a microphone.

Chang went full-time this year with the club with the help of his family. It’s a stark contrast from his five-person mahjong group that played in a friend’s apartment two years ago.

Courtesy Jacob Chang

He said the latest wave of American mahjong clubs inspired him to sell trendy merchandise, along with tickets to the events, which usually cost around $15. He said members in his club typically don’t have as much disposable income as someone who can pay $800 for a mahjong set, a reason why his club has become popular.

“I don’t have anything against American mahjong,” Chang, 26, told CNN when asked about emerging American businesses. “I’ll give them credit… they really know how to do capitalism with the mahjong stuff.”

For the Asian American diaspora, mahjong is a cultural touchstone. The game originated in China and traditionally has Chinese characters on the pieces — and it’s often played at home or casual social gatherings.

American mahjong was similarly played in middle-class Jewish families throughout the decades with a different set of rules than the Chinese version, Annelise Heinz wrote in her book, “Mahjong: A Chinese Game and the Making of Modern American Culture.”

P. Y. Tang/South China Morning Post/Getty Images

China Photos/Getty Images

Liz Hafalia/San Francisco Chronicle/AP

The lack of Asian representation in many of these new mahjong businesses, in particular, has garnered criticism. For Asian-run groups, the business of mahjong shakes out a little differently.

“If I sell a mahjong set for $800 and have a $200 membership, that just doesn’t resonate within the culture because we grew up playing this game with our grandparents,” Lin said. Neither Lin nor Chang named specific American mahjong businesses in their interviews with CNN.

But some American mahjong businesses, including Heron House and Oh My Mahjong, have received online comments about exclusivity and losing the game’s roots.

Heron House founder Charolette Obringer said the club, designed as an inclusive space, has Chinese mahjong lessons and has reached out to local Asian groups for informal partnerships on events. She said she sees a future where American-style mahjong culture and traditional Chinese mahjong merge, as many members are interested in learning the latter.

5 Good Things: Mahjong: It’s not just your grandma’s game anymore

“The one thing that both forums have in common is that they understand people that really view it as more than just a game,” she said. “It’s a lifestyle.”

Trottier, the CEO of Oh My Mahjong, told CNN it’s important that the company “always stayed true to the traditional Chinese elements of design,” and that many members of the design team are Asian American.

Lin said she wants to communicate more with the American mahjong community. She calls herself a “cultural pusher,” emphasizing that education is a big part of her business.

“I don’t think it’s about American versus Chinese or Asian mahjong,” she said. “It’s just that mahjong is not a monolith, and education is necessary for us to really understand the nuances of that.”

这句口号指的是麻将，一种起源于19世纪的中国纸牌游戏，长期以来在亚裔群体中广受欢迎，美国犹太社区也发展出了麻将版本。但到了2026年，美国的麻将社交俱乐部、联赛和麻将牌设计师们正席卷美国南部郊区乃至更广阔的地区。

麻将是一种类似于拉米牌的四人游戏，在过去一年中人气飙升，这主要得益于新冠疫情高峰期人们对它的兴趣激增。2025年，Yelp上麻将俱乐部的搜索量增长了4467%，而“麻将店”和“麻将俱乐部”的搜索量在2026年8月达到了历史最高水平。

它已经演变成一个价格不菲的消费生态系统。除了私人社交俱乐部，一些由女性经营的小型企业也出售精美的瓷砖套装和印有字母缩写的手提袋，专为最高档的游戏之夜而设计。

但麻将热潮也引发了关于文化挪用以及谁从中获利的新一轮辩论。

今年，位于北卡罗来纳州夏洛特的一家名为“苍鹭之家”（Heron House）的精品麻将馆开业了。麻将馆外是砖砌建筑，花园修剪整齐，与建筑融为一体。馆内麻将室的桌子上设有挂包钩和酒杯架，并贴有定制壁纸。

对于全国各地如雨后春笋般涌现的俱乐部来说，美学至关重要。

位于田纳西州纳什维尔附近的“甜茶麻将馆”（House of Sweet Tea & MAHJ）是一家由蜡烛店转型而来的麻将馆，店主詹妮弗·迪顿（Jennifer Deaton）称其为“芭比的梦幻屋”。位于亚利桑那州斯科茨代尔的麻将俱乐部（Mahj Clubs）“有点像个迷你乡村俱乐部”，麻将馆联合创始人兼经理朱莉娅·扎斯特罗（Julia Zastrow）告诉CNN。

承蒙 Julia Zastrow 惠允

苍鹭之家（Heron House）的会员每月缴纳最高 179 美元的会费，即可享受瓷砖套装折扣，这些套装最高可达 475 美元。该公司表示，工作室目前拥有 70 名会员。此外，工作室还会举办一些活动，允许非会员前来体验，每次 15 美元，所得款项将捐赠给慈善机构。

夏洛特·奥布林格供图

“麻将”现在可以作名词、动词，甚至在某种程度上是一种性格特征：你可以买到印有“和麻将女孩一起玩麻将”字样的饮料餐巾纸，或者印有“尽情玩麻将”字样的装麻将牌的小袋子。

从 Etsy 到 Hobby Lobby 商店，这款游戏的最新玩家们争相抢购爆款套装，以免售罄。

Oh My Mahjong 成立于四年前，出售各种主题的麻将牌，从色彩缤纷的棕榈皇家麻将到猎豹纹麻将，应有尽有。（另一家名为 Peace Love Mahjong 的公司则推出了一款闪闪发光的泰勒·斯威夫特主题麻将，售价 290 美元。）此外，您还需要印花麻将垫、亚克力牌架、时尚的收纳袋和洗牌器。

感谢 Oh My Mahjong

一套包含所有配件的 Oh My Mahjong 麻将套装起价 660 美元，最高可达 925 美元。美国最狂热的麻将爱好者甚至可以拥有装满麻将垫和麻将牌的柜子。

Oh My Mahjong 表示，公司去年盈利 4000 万美元，预计到年底将达到 1 亿美元。（由于 Oh My Mahjong 的财务文件并未公开，CNN 无法独立核实这些数字。）

美国新兴的麻将俱乐部往往融合了南方高雅的待客之道。对精致场所的需求已不再局限于家庭客厅，而是扩展到了遍布全国的数十家麻将馆。

正如瓷砖公司 Oh My Mahjong 的创始人 Megan Trottier 在接受《纽约时报》关于家居装饰的采访时所说：“麻将正在成为一种美好的待客之道——而不仅仅是把一局游戏放在桌子上。”

麻将复兴运动还有另一部分受众：年轻的亚裔美国人，他们通过麻将活动重新与自己的文化根源建立联系。这些麻将活动大多是快闪式的，以社区为基础，通常带有复古而性感的气息——让人想起香港电影导演王家卫充满活力的电影。

图片由 Jennelle Fong 提供

美籍台裔人士林安琪(Angie Lin)在高端活动和合作中取得了成功，而这些活动和合作都根植于亚洲文化。她的公司“东方永不言败”(East Never Loses)在轩尼诗、Netflix和Gold House联合举办的星光熠熠的农历新年派对上，专门设置了一个满座的麻将室。出席派对的嘉宾包括《激烈竞争》(Heated Rivalry)的哈德森·威廉姆斯(Hudson Williams)、《布里奇顿》(Bridgerton)的叶琳·哈(Yerin Ha)以及《周六夜现场》(SNL)的资深演员鲍文·杨(Bowen Yang)。

林说：“看到这么多大牌明星都来玩麻将，争着进麻将房，我感到非常自豪，当然，我明天要教的10人立直麻将课也让我同样感到骄傲。”

雅各布·张（Jacob Chang）是厄瓜多尔和中国的混血儿，他在佛罗里达州坦帕市创办了麻将社交俱乐部“红眼”（Red Eye）。在当地一家酒吧举办的麻将新手之夜上，桌边坐满了年轻的职业人士，他们玩着港式麻将，进行着友好的比赛，而张则在麦克风前担任主持人。

今年，在家人帮助下，张先生全职加入了俱乐部。这与两年前他在朋友公寓里和五个人一起打麻将的情况截然不同。

图片由 Jacob Chang 提供

他说，最近美国麻将俱乐部的兴起启发他开始销售时髦的周边商品以及麻将比赛门票，门票通常售价在15美元左右。他还说，他俱乐部的会员通常不像那些能花800美元买一套麻将的人那样有那么多可支配收入，这也是他的俱乐部受欢迎的原因之一。

“我并不反对美国麻将，”26岁的张先生在被问及美国新兴企业时告诉CNN，“我得承认……他们确实很懂得如何利用麻将产业进行资本主义运作。”

对于亚裔美国人来说，麻将是一种文化象征。麻将起源于中国，传统上麻将牌上印有汉字，人们经常在家中或非正式的社交聚会上玩麻将。

安妮莉丝·海因茨在她的著作《麻将：一种中国游戏与现代美国文化的形成》中写道，几十年来，美国麻将也以类似的方式在中产阶级犹太家庭中流行，但其规则与中国麻将有所不同。

PY Tang/南华早报/Getty Images

中国图片社/盖蒂图片社

Liz Hafalia/旧金山纪事报/美联社

尤其值得注意的是，许多新开的麻将馆缺乏亚裔代表，这一点引发了批评。而对于亚裔经营的麻将馆来说，经营模式则略有不同。

林说：“如果我卖一套麻将牌800美元，会员费200美元，这在我们的文化中根本行不通，因为我们从小就和祖父母一起玩麻将。”林和张在接受CNN采访时都没有提及具体的美国麻将商家。

但包括 Heron House 和 Oh My Mahjong 在内的一些美国麻将企业在网上收到了关于排他性和失去游戏根源的评论。

苍鹭之家创始人夏洛特·奥布林格表示，该俱乐部旨在打造一个包容性空间，提供中国麻将课程，并已与当地亚裔团体联系，寻求在活动方面开展非正式合作。她认为，未来美式麻将文化和传统中国麻将将会融合，因为许多会员都对学习后者很感兴趣。

麻将的五大好处：它不再只是你奶奶玩的游戏了

她说：“这两个论坛的共同之处在于，它们都理解那些把游戏不仅仅看作一款游戏的人。这是一种生活方式。”

Oh My Mahjong 的首席执行官 Trottier 告诉 CNN，公司“始终忠于中国传统设计元素”非常重要，而且设计团队的许多成员都是亚裔美国人。

林女士表示，她希望与美国麻将界有更多交流。她自称是“文化推动者”，并强调教育是她事业的重要组成部分。

“我不认为这是美国麻将与中国麻将或亚洲麻将之间的区别，”她说。“只是麻将并非铁板一块，我们需要通过教育才能真正理解其中的细微差别。”