Mahjong nights draw young crowds to San Francisco bars and restaurants

San Francisco (AP) — When Ryan Lee first played mahjong two years ago, he got hooked. He dug out sets of the classic Chinese tile game from his parents’ house and brought them to San Francisco, where he started hosting mahjong nights in his apartment.

The gatherings became so popular that the 25-year-old Chinese American began hosting pop-up mahjong parties in restaurants, bars and nightclubs around San Francisco.

Mahjong, invented in 19th century China, is gaining popularity with a new generation of players looking to get off their phones and socialize in the real world.

Lee’s Youth Luck Leisure (YLL) Mahjong Club now hosts bimonthly parties with up to 30 tables and 200 guests. They attract a diverse, young crowd drawn to the festive atmosphere, live DJs, custom cocktails and chance to meet new friends. Instructors are on hand to teach novices.

“A lot of people are just really intrigued even though they don’t really know how to play,” Lee said. “There’s a cultural component they’re trying to connect with. It’s kind of like a cultural nostalgia.”

Eventbrite reports there was a 179% increase in U.S. mahjong events on its platform from 2023 to 2024.

There's been a 179% increase in mahjong events in the U.S. from 2023 to 2024, according to Eventbrite, a popular ticketing app. The event platform says Gen Z is also showing a growing interest in other “grannycore” activities such as baking workshops and needlework circles that happen offline.

In mahjong, four players draw and discard tiles with different suits, numbers and Chinese characters. The object is to build a winning hand of four sets of three and one pair.

“It’s a really tactile game, and it’s really a social game. It really easily builds community among people,” said Nicole Wong, a writer and audio producer in Oakland. “It’s a good way to unplug and not just be on your phone.”

Wong learned how to play when she visited her Chinese grandparents in New Zealand in 2009. Several years ago she found her parents’ mahjong table and game sets, and started hosting mahjong nights with her friends.

In 2019, she launched The Mahjong Project, an instructional guide and oral history project inspired by her family’s love of the game. That led her to publish “Mahjong: House Rules from Across the Asian Diaspora,” an illustrated book that explores the game’s history, strategies, traditions and styles of play.

“For the Asian American community, I think there’s interest in connecting to your heritage and your culture in a way that was not the case when I was growing up,” Wong said.

YLL Mahjong Club has held nearly 20 events in San Francisco since it started last year. Lee said it’s an opportunity to introduce people to the game as well as bring business to local restaurants, bars and food vendors. Lee’s sister started hosting similar events in Los Angeles. There are plans to expand to other U.S. cities.

“The demand is rising,” said Lee, a management consultant in business school. “It’s not just an interest to learn how to play mahjong, but to find a third space or another community to do things with.”

Joyce Yam, YLL Mahjong Club’s sponsorship manager, helps manage the San Francisco events, which sell out fast and have long waiting lists.

“We welcome people who have no experience at mahjong at all, and we have TA’s who teach the people how to play the game. And they love it so much that they keep coming back,” Yam said.

Ethan Vuong, a Florida native who lives in San Francisco, started playing with friends a couple years ago. He saw it as a way to connect with his Chinese heritage and make new friends. He’s a regular at Oakland’s Baba House and YLL Mahjong Club events, where he volunteers to teach newcomers.

“It’s not just a skill or mechanics-based game, it’s an expression of your personality,” Vuong said. “I just keep playing because I have this goal that I’m going to beat my grandma one day.”

People play mahjong at an event organized by the YLL Mahjong Club on Friday, Aug. 15, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Terry Chea)

A DJ plays music at an event organized by the YLL Mahjong Club on Friday, Aug. 15, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Terry Chea)

People play mahjong at an event organized by the YLL Mahjong Club on Friday, Aug. 15, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Terry Chea)

People play mahjong at an event organized by the YLL Mahjong Club on Friday, Aug. 15, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Terry Chea)

People play mahjong at an event organized by the YLL Mahjong Club on Friday, Aug. 15, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Terry Chea)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke an 1807 law and deploy troops to quell persistent protests against the federal officers sent to Minneapolis to enforce his administration's massive immigration crackdown.

The threat comes a day after a man was shot and wounded by an immigration officer who had been attacked with a shovel and broom handle. That shooting further heightened the fear and anger that has radiated across the city since an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot Renee Good in the head.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, a rarely used federal law, to deploy the U.S. military or federalize the National Guard for domestic law enforcement, over the objections of state governors.

“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” Trump said in social media post.

Presidents have invoked the law more than two dozen times, most recently in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush to end unrest in Los Angeles. In that instance, local authorities had asked for the assistance.

Trump has repeatedly toyed with the idea of invoking the Insurrection Act, starting in his first term, but hasn't followed through. In 2020, for example, he threatened to use the act to quell protests after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police.

“I’m making a direct appeal to the President: Let’s turn the temperature down. Stop this campaign of retribution. This is not who we are,” Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, said on X.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said he would challenge any such action in court. He's already suing to try to stop the surge by the Department of Homeland Security, which says officers have arrested more than 2,500 people since Nov. 29 as part of an immigration operation in the Twin Cities called Metro Surge.

The operation grew when ICE sent 2,000 officers and agents to the area early in January. ICE is a DHS agency.

In Minneapolis, smoke filled the streets Wednesday night near the site of the latest shooting as federal officers wearing gas masks and helmets fired tear gas into a small crowd. Protesters responded by throwing rocks and shooting fireworks.

Demonstrations have become common in Minneapolis since Good was fatally shot on Jan. 7. Agents who have yanked people from their cars and homes have been confronted by angry bystanders demanding they leave.

“This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in and at the same time we are trying to find a way forward to keep people safe,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of three people who said they were questioned or detained in recent days. The lawsuit says two are Somali and one is Hispanic; all three are U.S. citizens. The lawsuit seeks an end to what the ACLU describes as a practice of racial profiling and warrantless arrests. The government did not immediately comment.

Similar lawsuits have been filed in Los Angeles and Chicago and despite seeing initial success, have tended to fizzle in the face of appeal. In Chicago, for example, last year a judge ordered a senior U.S. Border Patrol official to brief her nightly following a lawsuit by news outlets and protesters who said agents used too much force during demonstrations. But three days later, an appeals court stopped the updates.

Homeland Security said in a statement that federal law enforcement officers on Wednesday stopped a driver from Venezuela who is in the U.S. illegally. The person drove off then crashed into a parked car before fleeing on foot, DHS said.

Officers caught up, then two other people arrived and the three started attacking the officer, according to DHS.

“Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life,” DHS said. The confrontation took place about 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers) from where Good was killed.

Police chief Brian O’Hara said the man who was shot did not have a life-threatening injury. O’Hara's account of what happened largely echoed that of Homeland Security, which later said the other two men were also in the U.S. illegally from Venezuela.

The FBI said several government vehicles were damaged and property inside was stolen when agents responded to the shooting. Photos show broken windows and insults made with paint. A reward of up to $100,000 is being offered for information. The FBI’s Minneapolis office did not immediately reply to messages seeking more details.

St. Paul Public Schools, with more than 30,000 students, said it would begin offering an online learning option for students who do not feel comfortable coming to school. Schools will be closed next week until Thursday to prepare for those accommodations.

Minneapolis Public Schools, which has a similar enrollment, is also offering temporary remote learning. The University of Minnesota will start a new term next week with different options depending on the class.

Madhani reported from Washington, D.C. and Golden reported from Seattle. Associated Press reporters Sophia Tareen in Chicago; Bill Barrow in Atlanta; Rebecca Santana in Washington; and Ed White in Detroit contributed.

Federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Law enforcement officers at the scene of a reported shooting Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

A woman covers her face from tear gas as federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

A protester throws back a tear gas canister during a protest after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

Minneapolis City Council Member Jason Chavez, second from left, blows a whistle with other activists to warn people of federal immigration officers Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Tear gas surrounds federal law enforcement officers as they leave a scene after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A child and family are escorted away after federal law enforcement deployed tear gas in a neighborhood during protests on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

A protester holds an umbrella as sparks fly from a flash bang deployed by law enforcement on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

Monica Travis shares an embrace while visiting a makeshift memorial for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer last week, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A protester yells in front of law enforcement after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Tear gas surrounds federal law enforcement officers as they leave a scene after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Protesters shout at law enforcement officers after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Law enforcement officers stand amid tear gas at the scene of a reported shooting Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)