is LAist's deputy managing editor and leads a team of reporters who explore food, culture, history, events and more.
Fifth grader Abigail Lam is one of 16 students in a mahjong math club at Bella Vista Elementary in Monterey Park. Behind her are second grader Josephine Lam and fourth grader Lucas Wong.
This story is free to read because readers choose to support LAist. If you find value in independent local reporting, The math club at Bella Vista Elementary School is not a quiet affair — not with more than a dozen 10- and 11-year-olds stacking sets of mahjong.
"Remind me, math is the study of what? " fourth grade teacher Andy Luong asks the class. Some of the 16 students that make up the mahjong math club at Bella Vista Elementary, with club co-founder Rachel Hwang. If you're enjoying this article, you'll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report.
Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less.
"When you first learned this tile, what did you use to memorize this? " Luong, co-founder of the Mahjong Math Club, asks. Luong locks in on a slide for a few seconds, just a flash. It features six tiles, divided into two rows.
He asks the class how many tiles they see.
"Three on the top and three on the bottom," a girl says. " So when I saw the pattern, I was like, 'Oh, it's six. '"California has cleared an initiative aiming to cancel Measure ULA and similar taxes across the state. But it might not be November’s only “mansion tax” measure.
LA homeless agency has ‘significant’ problem with inaccurate financial statements, auditors find The issues surround poor bookkeeping and accounting of taxpayer money at the agency — which spent over $800 million in public funds last fiscal year.in the 19th century, after decades if not centuries of evolution. It spread globally, adopting regional specificities, including in the U.S. after it landed in the late 1910s from Shanghai by way of an American businessman.
A few decades later, a group of Jewish American women established the National Mah Jongg League in New York. The game never stopped being a staple of Chinese and many Asian cultures — anywhere in the world. In recent years, fueled in part by the COVID-19 shutdown, an interest in the game has sparked among young Asian Americans. They form or attend social clubs in L.A. dedicated to the pastime, creating their own bond with the game.
" Mahjong has such a bad rap in the Asian American community," Luong said, who moved to the San Gabriel Valley about a decade ago. "Part of a big reason why my parents don't play is because they associate it with gambling. " The 30-year-old finally gave the game a spin in 2024, learning it from third grade teacher and math club co-founder Rachel Hwang. She cut her teeth by watching her family play.
Naturally, she threw Luong in the deep end.
"I was so overwhelmed. It's like, 'What do you mean I had to get a set? A set of how much?
' I'm like, 'I don't know what I'm doing,'" he said. Still, Luong fell head over heels, quickly becoming a regular at the mahjong social clubs be flexible, B) change up your game plan," Hwang said. "It's OK. Life is going to throw curve balls at you.
" You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our connected community. We are free to tell the full truth, to hold power to account without fear or favor, and to follow facts wherever they lead .
Our only loyalty is to our audiences and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen our community. Right now, LAist has lost $1.7M in annual funding due to Congress clawing back money already approved. The support we receive from readers like you will determine how fully our newsroom can continue informing, serving, and strengthening Southern California.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Beatlemania: New photo book showcases the band’s historic Candlestick Park showThe book is a snapshot of music history.
Read more »
City begins safety improvements at Gas Works ParkKIRO-TV is a television station in Seattle, Washington, United States, affiliated with CBS and Telemundo.
Read more »
Saris over shorts: A viral run from India comes to SoCalJosie Huang covers Asian American communities for the LAist and KPCC newsroom.
Read more »
2,000 free plants will be given away Saturday in Leimert ParkAdolfo Guzman-Lopez covers higher education for the LAist and KPCC newsroom.
Read more »
Smelling more skunks? Could be because it’s baby skunk seasonCato Hernández is LAist's L.A. Explained reporter.
Read more »
New acting naval secretary’s comments resurface claiming “witchcraft” in MontereyPast comments about Pacific Grove’s Lovers Point are drawing renewed attention after Navy Undersecretary Hung Cao was appointed acting secretary of the Navy following the resignation of Navy Secretary John Phelan.
Read more »