Mahjiku › Mahjong variants › Chinese Official vs Singaporean
How Chinese Official and Singaporean mahjong differ — the tile set, the hand, and above all how each one is scored.
| Chinese Official | Singaporean | |
|---|---|---|
| Also called | 国标麻将 | Singapore Mahjong |
| Played in | China (competition circuit), international (WMO events) | Singapore, Malaysia |
| Tiles | 144 | 148 |
| Flowers | 4 flowers + 4 seasons (8 bonus tiles) | 4 flowers + 4 seasons, plus 4 unique animal tiles (Cat, Rat, Rooster, Centipede) forming two predator-prey pairs |
| Jokers | none | none |
| Hand size | 13 | 13 |
| Scored in | points (the "81 patterns") | fan/tai (doubling) |
| Scoring system | cumulative fan-counting against a standardized 81-pattern list | exponential doubling with a house-configurable minimum and limit |
| Learning curve | advanced | intermediate |
Chinese Official. Chinese Official (国标麻将 / MCR) is the standardized competition ruleset created in 1998, built around 81 fixed scoring patterns and an 8-point minimum to win — designed to replace regional house rules with one standard.
Singaporean. Singaporean mahjong plays much like Hong Kong mahjong with a 148-tile set (144 plus four unique animal bonus tiles) and doubling-based scoring whose minimum and limit vary by house rule.
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