Traveling in China or Vietnam? Learn to Play Chinese Chess

July 11, 2007

 Do you remember seeing squatting Vietnamese or Chinese huddled around a board chain smoking and shouting at each other? Ever wondered what they were doing? I always was dying to learn the game they were playing and finally when I did it enabled many of my traveling highlights in Vietnam.

The game they’re playing is Xiangqi or Chinese Chess. It has the same rules as western chess, but with some exciting new pieces like elephants, mandarins, and rivers. If you know how to play western chess then learning Chinese Chess with some focused effort should only take an afternoon or two, but learn how to play at a challenging level takes a lifetime.

In Vietnam I would walk the streets with a plastic shopping bag filled with the Chinese Chess board and pieces. Inevitably someone would see my bag and start yelling at their friends about how this foreigner is actually carrying a Xiangqi board. It is almost ubiquitously played amongst cylco (rickshaw) and taxi drivers, so in less then 5 minutes I would be  huddled over a Chinese Chess board in the center of at least 10 chain smoking Vietnamese all discussing the next best move.

Why were they so excited? They wanted to see the foreigner mind in action in a game which is pure strategy. Usually the old cabbies would play me like a child, but on a few occasions I managed to squeeze out a victory which sent shock waves though every Vietnamese in the vicinity.

Regardless of the games outcome, the comradery and respect which developed as the Vietnamese saw me challenge them in their own Asia game written in Chinese characters opened an entire sphere of authentic experience which otherwise would be entirely inaccessible.

If you are interested in learning how to play Chinese chess, a good place to start is HERE as it uses western chess as a comparison.

An interesting thought is that almost every Chinese or Vietnamese man, women, and child, knows how to play Chinese Chess, so once you learn you will be able to drum up a game virtually anywhere in the world.