Grandfather’s Factory – Fuk Hing Ling Mahjong Manufacturing Factory 復興隆麻雀廠

Fuk Hing Lung Mahjong Manufacturing Factory was setup in 1963 by grandfather Cheung. The factory moved to Kowloon Bay Industrial Centre in 1987 due to the crackdown on the Kowloon Walled City. The factory was among the first group to move into a new factory zone witnessing Hong Kong’s speedy industrial movement. Since then, it began the machinery development stage of mahjong manufacturing industry in Hong Kong

However, starting in the late 1990s many manufacturing industries in Hong Kong began to die off because of severe competition from mainland China and extremely low cost. With diminishing demands, the traditional ways began to die off in Hong Kong. The factory was downsized gradually, labour lost their jobs and finally it was closed in 2009. Despite the hard times, our craftsmanship spirit did not come to the end.

What were the making tools of hand-carved mahjong tiles?
1) Put mahjong tiles on top of the lamp box, that is easier for sculpture
2) A pair of special scissors to engrave characters
3) A long carving knife for lined characters 孛子
4) A special drill for making round character 筒子
5) Three main painting colors: green, blue and red

That’re a lot of efforts to make a complete set of mahjong tiles. While this manufacturing industry is unlikely to come alive again in Hong Kong, Karen Aruba Art is committed to preserve Hong Kong culture and family ties alive through art with creative mahjong design.

Read more about our family mahjong family story. https://www.karenaruba.com/press/