Latest News:  
Beijing   Cloudy/Overcast    0 / 5   City Forecast

People's Daily Online>>China Society

Mahjong body stakes claim to heritage list

By Wang Huazhong (China Daily)

09:26, November 28, 2011

Gao Xiuzhen (left) from the Shaanxi Xijing Team and Tina Christensen (right), 39, president of the European Mahjong Association, at the Fifth China Mahjong Forum and Championship - the qualification game for the Third World Mahjong Championship - on a cruise in the Yangtze River's Three Gorges region in Yichang, Central China's Hubei province, on Nov 22. Wang Huazhong / China Daily

CHONGQING - A semi-official organization under the Ministry of Culture has said it will work with the World Mahjong Organization (WMO) to prepare a new application for the game to be included on the world list of Intangible Culture Heritage items.

Ma Xiaomei, president of the Chinese Promotional Committee of World National Culture Exchange, said that as many local mahjong associations have worked to promote the culture behind the sport and standardize the game rules, the environment will be favorable for a new application.

In 2007, the committee submitted an application to the ministry to include the game as an item of China's national intangible cultural heritage - a first step before applying to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to seek designation as an international heritage item. But the committee received no reply.

The new application will be innovative, in that it will engage Western and Eastern countries as joint applicants directly to UNESCO.

The measure will not affect the small quota that each country has for direct applications to UNESCO.

The secretary-general of the WMO, Jiang Xuanqi, said that the body consists of more than 20 national associations in the United States, Europe and Asia that will support the committee in the attempt.

【1】 【2】


Leave your comment0 comments

  1. Name


Selections for you

  1. Luxurious jewelry in Qing Dynasty

  2. Students learn folk culture at primary school

  3. 'Yao Ming Wine' auction starts at $9,414

  4. Students perform Chao opera

Most Popular


  1. Corporate efforts better than govt ad in selling China
  2. Iceland deal hits local firms with dose of cold water
  3. Are Chinese people truly miserable?
  4. Protecting monetary sovereignty
  5. Think competitively
  6. Public anger hits the roof
  7. Zero-sum mentality should be ditched
  8. US expected to contribute to Asian economy
  9. No end in sight for economic doldrums
  10. China supports UN green industry initiative

What's happening in China

Students perform Chao opera at Guangdong

  1. 100 WWII-era artillery shells found in NE China
  2. No more 'dirty' gifts
  3. Mountain retreat for AIDS orphans
  4. Rich beggars refuse govt aid
  5. Gentle reality belies gambling stereotypes

PD Online Data

  1. The lion dance in Guangzhou
  2. The flower fair in Guangzhou
  3. Lion dances pay New Year calls in Guilin
  4. Jiangsu´s special New Year traditions
  5. Hakka traditions in Spring Festival