I have only played mahjong twice. Each time I played for four to five hours. The game started after dinner, and it was finished just before mid-night.
In Hong Kong, this game is also called máquè (麻雀) which means sparrow. I was quite puzzled when I first saw the huge street signs saying "sparrow house", but I eventually figured out that it meant mahjong. According to Wikipedia, "sparrow" is still the most commonly used name in southern China. For me, I only see it displayed prominently in Hong Kong. I have either not noticed the street signs in other southern cities, or overlooked them completely. The reason might be my limited experience in playing mahjong.
