Beginner's Guide to Fuzhou Mahjong

Fuzhou Mahjong (福州麻将), also known as Fujian Mahjong (福建麻将) or Fuzhou Gold Rush Mahjong, popular in Fujian Province, is a beginner-friendly 16-Tile Mahjong variant. It emphasizes quick, exciting gameplay with straightforward scoring. Unique features include the Gold tile (金 - Jīn) acting as a wild card and specialized winning hands that reward strategic play earning it's variant name of "Gold Rush Mahjong"

Tiles to Play Fuzhou Mahjong With

Fuzhou Mahjong uses a total of 144 tiles, categorized into suits, honors, and flowers. The suit tiles consist of Dots, Bamboo, and Characters, each numbered from one to nine, with four copies of each tile. The honor tiles include Wind tiles and Dragon tiles. Each honor tile has four copies, contributing 28 tiles. The flower tiles include four season tiles and four flower tiles, each appearing once for a total of 8 flower tiles.

In Fuzhou Mahjong, the Wind tiles and Dragon tiles are also treated as flower tiles and are immediately replaced upon drawing for a total of 36 flowers.

Basic Rules of Fuzhou Mahjong

Every turn goes the same way:

1. Draw a tile from the wall or by take the tile that somebody just discarded
2. Try to make a winning hand! The goal is to arrange your tiles into five sets of three and one pair. If you can't, go to step 3.
3. Discard a tile in the center of the table, officially ending your turn.
4. Immediately after a tile is discarded, someone else can take it to form a meld or to complete their winning hand. If nobody takes the discarded tile, that tile is out of play for the rest of the game and the next player draws from the wall.

By default, the next player is the player to the right (counterclockwise). Even if it is not your turn yet, this is not a time to sit idle. Although the next person is the player to the right by default, there are certain circumstances that allow somebody to jump ahead to call a discarded tile. Also, even if you are unable to call the tile, it is important for you to know what is thrown and what is out of play, so that you are not waiting for it in vain later on.

How to Setup Fuzhou Mahjong

Like most variants of mahjong, Fuzhou mahjong is intended for four players. Rules and customs for dealing the tiles out vary from version to version and table to table.

Determining the Dealer

The dealer is determined at the start of the game using a pair of dice. Each player rolls the dice, and the player with the highest total score becomes the initial dealer. In some variations, the dice are rolled once, and the count proceeds counterclockwise around the table to select the starting dealer based on the number rolled. If the dealer wins the hand, they retain their role for the next round. However, if a non-dealer wins or the round ends in a draw, the dealer position rotates counterclockwise to the next player.

Setting up the Wall

The next step is shuffling the tiles and building the wall. After thoroughly shuffling the 144 tiles face-down on the table, players divide into four groups, with each player responsible for building a section of the wall in front of them. Each wall section is constructed by stacking tiles in two layers, with each layer containing 18 stacks of 2 tiles, creating a total of 36 tiles per wall section. These four walls are then pushed together to form a square enclosure in the center of the table.

Breaking the Wall 

Once the dealer has been selected, the dealer rolls the dice to determine the starting wall. Let’s say you are the dealer and you roll a seven. 

Starting with your own wall, count the walls in front of each player, moving counterclockwise around the table: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. You should now be pointing at the wall of the player to your left.

The next step is to determine where to break the wall.

Use the same number from determining the starting wall. Starting on the end of the wall segment closest to you, count out seven tiles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Pick up that seventh tile (since you rolled a seven) because it counts from the indicated player's right to his left (not players but tiles this time) the total sum of the rolls. The tiles immediately after become the draw wall. Then the 18 tiles before the draw wall are reserved to becomes the dead wall that are not used in the game except for the "Gold Tile".

The wall is basically like a long deck of cards wrapping around the table in a square. The draw wall is like the top of the deck where the tiles will be dealt from and where the players will draw tiles from during gameplay and the dead wall is the bottom of the deck where 18 tiles are not used. 

Dealing the Hand

The dealing then starts from the next stack after the break, moving counter-clockwise. In Fuzhou Mahjong, each player receives four tiles at a time until they have 16 tiles (instead of the usual 13 in other variants). 

Once everyone has their tiles, players show any Flower tiles they received and draw replacement tiles from the wall. This continues until no one has any more Flower tiles in their hand. 

Optionally Calling Flower Replacements

Each player may arrange the taken tiles by type, suit, and number order. The players may then check for any Flower Tiles. If a player has any Flower Tiles, expose them between the wall and one’s standing tiles, and take replacement tiles from the back end of the wall. The dealer replaces flower tiles first until the replaced tile isn’t the flower tile, then following counterclockwise by South, West, and North follow in turn, until no player has any more Flower tiles concealed in the hand. After Flower replacements, if the dealer cannot declare a win also known “hu”, the dealer will discard one unwanted tile.

Gold Tiles (Jīn Pái (金牌))

The Gold Tile is a unique feature in Fuzhou Mahjong that adds an element of excitement to the game. The Gold Tile acts as a Wild Card. Additionally if on the first turn, if the Gold matches their winning tile before any tiles are drawn, they can immediately "Robbing the Gold" to win the game using the Gold Tile without actually having to draw a tile.

The Treasure Tile has two functions:

• Act as a wildcard if drawn
• Robbing The Gold - Upon revealing the Gold Tile and before any tiles are drawn for that player's turn, it allows for an immediate win if the Gold Tile matches the player’s required winning tile.

Either way, having Gold Tiles or Robbing the Gold add multipliers to your hand's final score and payout!

Revealing Gold Tile

After all players have finished drawing and replacing their flower tiles. The dealer initiates this process by flipping the last tile from the dead wall (死墙 - Sǐqiáng), typically located at the end of the wall, and placing it face-up on top of the ninth stack from the back end of the dead wall. The revealed tile and the other three matching tiles of the same type as the gold tile also become wild cards for that round.

Wild Card Tile

The gold tile serves as a wild card, capable of substituting any tile in a winning hand but cannot be used for calls like Chi (吃), Pon (碰), or Kan (杠).  Additionally if on the first turn, if the Gold matches their winning tile before any tiles are drawn, they can immediately "Robbing the Gold (抢金 - Qiǎngjīn)" to win the game using the Gold Tile without actually having to draw a tile.

The Gold Tile also carries scoring significance. Each Gold Tile included in a winning hand adds bonus points, significantly increasing the final score. Additionally, there are special hands like the Golden Dragon (three Gold Tiles in hand) and Golden Pair (two Gold Tiles forming a pair), both of which yield higher multipliers.

Note: Discarding a Gold Tile is allowed, but doing so restricts the player to winning only by self-draw (自摸 - Zìmō) for the remainder of the hand.

Getting a Tile

The main way to get a tile is to draw it from the draw wall.

You can also get a tile when somebody discards it if it completes a a valid combination of three or four tiles, also known as a meld, or for a winning hand.

The called tile must be displayed face up with the completed meld. This open meld cannot be altered for the rest of the game.  The discarded tile must be called immediately or else the tile becomes dead and will remain in the discarded tile area for the rest of the game. 

Calling Tiles

A pung is a three-of-a-kind.

If you need the discarded tile to complete a pung, you have to say “pung,” grab it, and display the completed pung face up next to your flowers. Pungs are powerful because you can seize it even if it isn’t your turn, and everyone before you will lose their turn.

A kong is a four-of-a-kind. 

Kong is like a special type of pung, and can also be grabbed even if it’s not your turn. However, you have to also grab an extra tile from the wall. This is necessary for you to have enough tiles to complete a winning hand.

Note:  Additional tiles are reserved for the dead wall with each Kong: 1 additional tile for an Exposed Kong and 2 additional tiles for a Concealed Kong. 

A chow is a three-tile straight of the same suit. 

Unlike pung and kang, you can only chow when it’s your turn. This makes chows harder to get since you can only get it from the person right before you. The only exception to this is if the chow would result in you winning.

Generally you cannot claim a discarded tile to form a pair. The only exception is if you are waiting for one more tile to win. You might be waiting to complete a pung, a chow, or an eye in order to win. No matter what you’re waiting for, you can seize it if somebody discards it, anytime. Winning using a discarded tile is called mahjong or hu.

FAQ: What Happens If Two People Want to Call a Discarded Tile?

In general, priority is given based on what the tile is being called for: winning takes precedence over pungs/kongs. If more than one player needs the discarded tile for mahjong, it goes to whoever is closer in turn after the person who discarded the tile.

Arranging your Tiles

Remember, the goal of mahjong is to have all of your tiles arranged into five melds and one pair.  After getting a tile, you should arrange your tiles and attempt to incorporate your new tile into your hand.

As discussed above, kong is a four-of-a-kind, which may be formed from a discarded tile. Related to kong is a concealed kong when you have four-of-a-kind that’s hidden in your own hand, which means that you drew it yourself and did not complete it using a discarded tile. In this case, because it’s concealed, the identity of the tile is valuable information and should not be displayed. But because it is a four-tile meld, you must declare it and get a tile from the wall. Turn the outside tiles facedown to mark it as a concealed kong. Just like with open meld, your secret tiles will be out of play the rest of the game with no changes permitted.

Another related concept is open melded kong. Open melded kongs are generally locked in and cannot be changed. If you created a pung from a discarded tile, and later on, somebody throws the fourth matching tile, you will not be able to kong the discarded tile, because your pung was already open. However, there is a special exception: if it’s your turn and the tile that you draw from the wall happens to be the fourth matching tile, then you can add it to your completed pung. Declare the open melded kong and set the matching tile on top of the middle tile of the pung. Since this is now a four-tile meld, you must draw a replacement tile from the wall.

Discarding a Tile

Generally, tiles that are least useful to your current hand structure or pose the lowest risk of being claimed by others, should be discarded.

At the start of the game, players typically discard isolated tiles, which are tiles that cannot easily form sequences. Examples include high-numbered suit tiles like 9 Bamboo or 1 Dot, especially if they have no neighboring numbers to form a sequence.

As the game progresses and players approach a winning hand, discards become more tactical. Players will avoid discarding tiles that might complete an opponent's set based on visible melds on the table. For example, if an opponent has revealed two 4 Bamboo tiles, discarding a third 4 Bamboo would allow them to complete a Pon.

Gold tiles have special rules in Fuzhou Mahjong. While they can be discarded, doing so comes with significant risk. A discarded gold tile cannot be claimed by others through Chi, Pon, or Kan, but it can limit the discarding player to winning only by self-draw for the remainder of the round.

Arranging your Called and Discard Tiles

Called tiles are placed face-up in front of you, grouped by their type. Chow sets are arranged in the order they were called, while Pung and Kong are grouped together distinctly. Open Kong sets are placed similarly to Pung, with the fourth tile added on top. Concealed Kong remains partially hidden, showing only two tiles face-up.

Discarded tiles are placed face-up in rows in front of each player. Typically, they are arranged in rows of six tiles per row for clarity. 

End of the Game

A round ends when a player achieves a winning hand, or when all tiles are drawn except the last remaining 18 tiles are left without anyone winning. Additional tiles are reserved for the dead wall with each Kong: 1 additional tile for an Exposed Kong and 2 additional tiles for a Concealed Kong. If the last group of tiles after a Kong cannot support all remaining players to draw, the round ends as a draw.

Winning in Fuzhou Mahjong

A player can win by forming a complete hand consisting of five sets and one pair, totaling 17 tiles (16 in hand plus one final winning tile). A set can be a sequence, a triplet or a quadruplet of four identical tiles. 

Only one player can win and if multiple players can win on a single discarded tile, the player closest to the discarder in counterclockwise order has priority.

Initial Points

Decide in advance how long you’ll play for and what “rate” you’ll use. If you plan to play for several hours, you might, for instance, reshuffle seating every hour or so. Also agree on how many “points” each player starts with—represented by chips or some other marker.

Common values are 50 points or 100 points, however you can go as high as you like. These points serve as a baseline for calculating wins and losses.

Base Points

In Fuzhou Mahjong, the base point used for hands start at 5. You can use larger values if you would like.

Winning Hand Payout Formula

Payout = ((Base Points + Flower Points + Gold Points + Dealer Continuation + Kong Points) × 2) + Special Hand Points

For example if you won by self-draw with 6 non-matching Flowers, 1 Gold Tile, with an all sequences hand (Ping Hu), your payout with be scored as follows:

(Base Points (5) + Flower Points (6) + Gold Tile (1) + Dealer Continuation (0) + Kong Points (0)) x 2 which would be 12 x 2 = 24 + Special Hand Points for All Sequences (15) which would be 39 Points from each player (Self-Drawn, each player pays)

Points and Payout in Fuzhou Mahjong

Scoring combines base points, flower points, gold points, and special hand patterns and winning conditions. 

Point Value Table for Fuzhou Mahjong

Name	Points and Multipliers	Descriptions
Flower Points (花分, Huāfēn)	1 Per	Each flower tile adds one point; a complete set of four flowers adds six points.
Gold Points (金分, Jīnfēn)	1 Per	Each gold tile in a winning hand adds one point.
Dealer Continuation	1 Per	Add one point per dealer continuation
Open Kong (明杠, Mínggàng)	1 Per	Revealed four-of-a-kind set from a claimed tile adds one point.
Concealed Kong (暗杠, Ànggàng)	1 Per	Concealed four-of-a-kind set from self-drawn tiles adds two points.
Full Bloom	6	A complete set of four flowers/season or four of the same dragon or wind. Stacks with individual Flower Points
All Sequences (平胡, Pínghú)	10	A hand made entirely of sequences and one pair.
One Flower (只有一张花, Zhǐyǒu Yī Zhāng Huā)	15	A winning hand with only one declared flower
Golden Pair (金雀, Jīnquè)	20	A winning hand where the pair is made of two gold tiles. Does not stack.
Three Gold Knockdown (三金倒, Sān Jīn Dǎo)	30	A winning hand containing three gold tiles  Does not stack.
Golden Dragon (金龙, Jīnlóng)	40	A winning hand containing three gold tiles as a triplet.  Does not stack.
Robbing the Gold (抢金, Qiǎngjīn)	50	Winning by taking the gold tile before the initial draw.
Blessing of Earth (Di He)	40	A non-dealer player wins on the first draw before any tiles are drawn or flower are replaced.
Blessing of Heaven (天和, Tiānhé)	50	The dealer wins instantly with their initial hand.