Hong Kong mahjong carver among the last of his kind
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The last craftsmen
Eyebrows furrowed in careful concentration as he chisels images and Chinese characters onto mahjong tiles, 70-year-old Cheung Shun-king is one of the last craftsmen of his kind in Hong Kong.
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Hand carving
Hand carving playing tiles for the popular Chinese game used to be a source of income for many, but the introduction of much cheaper machine-made sets whittled away at their customer base and turned their work into a rarity.
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Four separate shops
Cheung's family alone used to own four separate shops, where as a teenager he learned his trade. Now only one remains.
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'Given my youth to it'
"I have given my youth to it," he says of his work. "I don't know if I'll have the energy to carry on in a few years, but for now, I'll continue to do it."
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Cost of mahjong sets
Cheung's store is on a street lined with mahjong parlours, but none of them buy their tiles from him. "My mahjong sets are expensive," he admits. A full set of hand-carved tiles costs HK$5,500 (US$700), he says, whereas machine-carved ones are around HK$2,000. The price reflects the time spent making them.
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Production of tiles
Industrial production of tiles takes about an hour, but it takes five days for Cheung to complete the process of carving and colouring his tiles.