Chop Suey Club

Chop Suey Club Contemporary Chinese design & art store in downtown NYC.

Chop Suey Club offers a unique selection of fashion accessories, home furnishing, books and art, all sourced from contemporary Chinese designers around the world.

06/30/2026

The flower tiles aren’t just decoration. Each one represents a moral quality that Confucian philosophy said every person should develop.

Plum Blossom blooms in dead winter - Resilience. Orchid blooms in hidden valleys without seeking attention - Humility. Chrysanthemum blooms long after everything else has withdrawn - Perseverance. And Bamboo bends in the worst storms but never breaks - Integrity.

They’re called the 花中四君子, the Four Gentlemen of Flowers. One of the most enduring themes in Chinese art and philosophy for over a thousand years.

The Dragon tiles tell you what to achieve. The flowers tell you how to be while you’re achieving it.

700 years of moral philosophy hiding in your tile set.

🀄 Follow for weekly mahjong history and design.
📖 Mahjong for Dummies — link in bio.

#麻将

06/16/2026

The four Wind tiles aren’t just compass directions.

In Chinese philosophy, 風水輪流轉, Feng Shui Lun Liu Zhuan, means fortune is always circulating. No position is permanent. And that idea is literally built into the game.

There’s also a reason mahjong is specifically a four-player game. The sociologist Georg Simmel argued that four is the minimum structure of a functioning society. Two is fragile. Three always has a majority. Four creates real balance, flexible alliances, and genuine interdependence.

Opposition and cooperation, built right into where you sit 🤍🫂

🀄 Follow for weekly mahjong history and design.
📖 Mahjong for Dummies — link in bio.

#麻将

Mahjong newbies 🀄️❣️ This month we are hosting 3 guided Cantonese mahjong play sessions at for you to practice and shar...
06/03/2026

Mahjong newbies 🀄️❣️ This month we are hosting 3 guided Cantonese mahjong play sessions at for you to practice and sharpen your skills with fellow beginners.

No worries if you don’t remember the nitty gritty, our expert instructors will be there to answer your questions and give you pointers on strategy.

Get ambitious! Cuz every win will get you a prize 🤗✨

Your ticket includes:
🀄️ 3 Hour guided play
🏅Prize from CSC store for every win
🍕Free flow of Roman-style pizza

Ticket link in bio

#麻将

05/28/2026

Three tiles. One philosophy that shaped the imperial China.

The Red Dragon 中 means earning your place through merit. The Green Dragon 發 means the wealth that follows. The White Dragon 白 intentionally left blank — because integrity is clean living.

Together they tell the complete arc of a Confucian scholar’s life. Achievement, prosperity, and the moral purity to hold it all without corruption.

🀄 Follow for more mahjong content.
📖 Mahjong for Dummies — link in bio

#麻将

05/20/2026

Why is the One Bamboo a bird when every other bamboo tile is just a stack of sticks?

There are actually multiple theories. The most practical one: if the one bamboo looked like one plain vertical line, cheaters could draw an extra line and turn it into a two bamboo. Making it visually distinct was an anti-counterfeiting measure built directly into the tile design.

But there’s also a folk theory about mayflies, and a separate one about the word “mahjong” itself meaning sparrow in Cantonese.

No single definitive answer after 700 years. Which honestly makes it the most interesting tile in the whole set.

(For why the three suits exist at all, see my last reel on Dots, Bamboos and Characters.)

🀄 Follow for weekly mahjong history and design.
📖 Mahjong for Dummies — link in bio.

Follow for more mahjong history & design 💖🀄️

#麻将

05/12/2026

Do you know your mahjong symbols? 🀄️ Let’s begin with the suits.

The three suits in mahjong are a complete Ming Dynasty currency system hidden in plain sight. Dots are coins. Bamboos are strings of a thousand coins. Characters are ten thousand strings.

And the human figures on the original cards? Those came from the Water Margin 水浒传, one of China’s four great classical novels. The character suit is literally a crime syndicate’s bounty list.

🀄 Follow for the full history series.
📖 Mahjong for Dummies — link in bio.

#麻将

May Mahjong 101 Class open now 🀄️✨ 2-hour Cantonese mahjong class + open bar (supported by & ) + snacky buffet for a b...
05/07/2026

May Mahjong 101 Class open now 🀄️✨ 2-hour Cantonese mahjong class + open bar (supported by & ) + snacky buffet for a blissful fun time 🤗✨

Tickets selling out fast. Reserve your seat via link in bio.

#麻将

05/05/2026

The ancestor of mahjong is a card game called MaDiao 马吊. The paper cards evolved into bone & bamboo tiles.

Follow for more fun mahjong content 🤗🀄️💖

#麻将

05/01/2026

Most people think mahjong is one game. It’s actually 50+❣️🀄️

In my book Mahjong for Dummies, I cover 7 of the most distinctive styles. Each one has rules and tiles that don’t exist in any other variants.

This is the series where I break all of it down — the history, the design, the variants, and everything you didn’t know you didn’t know.

🀄 Follow for new drops
📖 Mahjong for Dummies — link in bio

#麻将

Get a head start on AAPI Heritage Month by mastering the art of Cantonese Mahjong. We’re hosting two special beginner cl...
04/13/2026

Get a head start on AAPI Heritage Month by mastering the art of Cantonese Mahjong. We’re hosting two special beginner class led by the author of Mahjong for Dummies! 🀄️📖✨

Time: Thursday, April 16 & 23 | 7-11pm (choose your date when booking)

The Deal: Classes like this usually cost $80+, but we’re offering a rare community rate for these two session only.

The Experience:
• Learn: 2 hours of expert instruction (tiles, rules, mechanism and scoring) 🤓
• Play: 2 hours of guided social play to sharpen your skills 🙌
• Perks: Take-home guides, all equipment provided, plus 1 complimentary drink 🍸

About Ziggy’s Roman Cafe Ziggy’s Roman Cafe:
Owned by our friend Helen Zhang, Ziggy’s is a warm, bi-level neighborhood gem serving world-class cocktails and Roman-inspired dishes. The perfect spot to gather and enjoy your new Mahjong skills. 🍸🍕

TICKET LINK IN BIO 💖

Address

81 Hester Street
New York, NY
10002

Opening Hours

Tuesday 12pm - 7pm
Wednesday 12pm - 7pm
Thursday 12pm - 7pm
Friday 12pm - 7pm
Saturday 12pm - 7pm
Sunday 12pm - 7pm

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