Tile Reference Guide
Hong Kong Style Mahjong
Mahjong Tiles
A complete guide to the tiles used in Hong Kong Style Mahjong — suits, honours, flowers, and seasons.
Hong Kong Style Mahjong uses a set of 136 tiles, made up of 36 distinct kinds with 4 copies of each. The tiles are divided into three main categories: Suit tiles, Honour tiles, and Flower & Season tiles.
Suit tiles form the backbone of most hands. Honour and Flower tiles provide bonus scoring opportunities — and in some cases, an instant winning hand.
Suit Tiles
There are three suits, each numbered 1 through 9, giving 27 distinct tiles (108 total with 4 copies each). Suit tiles are the primary building blocks of the game — they can form Chows (sequential runs) or Pongs/Kongs (identical sets).
Numbered 1–9, the Bamboo suit is depicted with bamboo stalk illustrations. These are among the most visually distinctive tiles in the set.
Numbered 1–9, the Stone suit is depicted with circles or dots. Sometimes referred to as “Dot tiles,” they are simple to read at a glance.
Numbered 1–9 using Chinese numeral characters (一二三四五六七八九). The Character suit is sometimes called the “Wan” or “Man” suit and is instantly recognisable by its red Chinese numerals.
Honour Tiles
Honour tiles cannot form Chows (sequential runs) — they can only be collected as Pongs or Kongs of identical tiles. They add bonus fan (points) to a winning hand and are divided into Dragons and Winds.
Dragons
The blank or white dragon. Often depicted as an empty tile or a simple border design.
Marked with the Chinese character 中 (zhong, meaning “centre”) in red. One of the most recognised Mahjong tiles.
Marked with the character 眔 (fa, meaning “prosperity”) in green. A favoured tile for its auspicious meaning.
Tip: Dragon tiles collected as a Pong or Kong add bonus fan levels to your winning hand, making them highly valuable to collect.
Wind Tiles
Wind tiles cycle through the game as the prevailing (round) wind and each player’s seat wind. The round starts with East for four games, then rotates to South, West, and finally North.
Tip: Collecting a Pong or Kong of your own seat wind, or the prevailing round wind, adds extra bonus fan to your hand.
Flower & Season Tiles
Flower and Season tiles are bonus tiles — there is only one of each (8 total, not 4 copies). They are set aside when drawn and replaced with a tile from the wall. They contribute bonus points to a hand but do not count as sets.
The Four Flowers
The Four Seasons
Collecting all four Flower tiles and all four Season tiles (8 bonus tiles total) is an instant winning hand in Hong Kong Style Mahjong — one of the rarest achievements in the game.
A summary of all 136 tiles — suits, honour tiles, and bonus tiles — with links to the full Knowledge reference.
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