Intricately designed, hand-carved tiles click against acrylic racks as four women spanning three generations rack their tiles, uncovering the 13 they have to work with. Once everyone has racked their tiles, they select three they want to pass and the Charleston (or tile swapping) begins. Between ea ch tile exchange, the women forget which round they’re on as they get wrapped up in conversation about their week. A single round of mahjong can be played in as little as 10 minutes, but many mahjong players prefer hours-long games, free of screens and any sense of rush.  Mahjong is a tile-based game that began in China centuries ago and later became a popular tradition amongst older Jewish-American women — but in the last few years, mahjong has exploded far beyond that demographic.  “We’re slower to get on trend up here,” said Nicki Johnston, founder of Hidden Tile Mahjong, a local small business that hosts mahjong events on the east side of the city. “The south has been booming with it for years. That being said, it has been around our area forever and we just didn’t know.”  PHOTO BY ABBY ROSE SUGNET. Johnston regularly meets people who’ve known of older women in their family playing for decades.  “The American Mahjong League has been going strong for nearly 90 years,” she said. “(But) for most of us, especially our generation, if we didn’t grow up with that around, it’s brand new.” Johnston is a retired air traffic controller and stay-at-home mom who learned how to play last fall after seeing a group of women playing on a cruise. After struggling to find someone to learn from at home, she fell in love with the game, got certified in teaching and started her business by January. She now regularly hosts Mahjong 101 classes, multi-session private lessons, open play events for the community, a summer league and a variety of other events.  ABBY ROSE SUGNET. Bird and Bamboo Social, based in Pittsford, took off just as quickly. Cofounder Liz Cooper learned to play mahjong while visiting friends in Cincinnati last summer, then returned home and encouraged her neighbors to learn and play with her.  “We loved it so much that after a period of time, we decided to spread the love of mahjong,” she said. In April, Cooper and two of her neighbors, Carolina Hale and Shannon Lenahan, launched Bird and Bamboo Social. They now host events weekly, from 101 classes to open play events at local restaurants and wineries across the greater Rochester area. While they always have wine or cocktails available, the trio also encounters many attendees who are looking for an activity that doesn’t revolve around drinking.  “It’s a game, it’s fun, it’s connection, but there’s also a lot of information about how good it is for your brain — the positive effects on aging, the benefits in terms of your working memory and flexibility and pattern recognition,” said Cooper. “So it offers benefits in the social area, the mental area and the self-care area, and I think it’s hard to find a hobby that does all of those things.” ABBY ROSE SUGNET. Hidden Tile Mahjong and Bird and Bamboo Social are just two of many options for learning mahjong in the greater Rochester area. Though the two businesses began out of a need for more resources, accessibility is emerging rapidly to meet the demand of a growing number of younger people who want to learn the game. Local libraries, parks and recreation centers and community centers offer options for mahjong players of all levels. “It’s a way to build community, unwind and give yourself a little self love,” said Johnston. “And it’s a great way to meet new people — you literally have a seat at the table.” Abby Rose Sugnet is a local marketer, photographer and mahjong player with a bachelor’s degree in magazine journalism. This is her debut contribution to CITY. The post Mahjong’s quiet rise through social circles appeared first on CITY Magazine. Arts. Music. Culture.. ...read more read less