The other day I received the following email from  AOTOMO Mahjong Table Manufacturer in China. The writer, a person by the name of Frank, wanted me to “put our new design Chinese famous novel mahjong set on to your blog. Please kind find the photos attached. We will send more our mahjong products late.”
I asked Frank to send more information and here is what he sent:

So, I emailed Frank again and told him I needed more information including pricing…

…and here is what I received back from him:

The Chinese characters on the right hand door are referring to the ‘four classic novels of Chinese literature’ and then inside the box each novel is named: Journey to the West, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the Water Margin and the Dream of Red Mansions. We have seen sets with flower tiles referring to most if not all these books in the past. Also on the door of the box (the left hand door) it says something along the lines of Mahjong Collection. Thank you, Frank

Oh, and about the pricing:

Dear Ann,
We offer the best price $998usd send it to your door in UAS by air-express.

Um, I had to write him back with the following (always trying to be diplomatic):

Thank you for sending this information. Just so I am clear, this new Mah Jongg set is $998.00 in U.S. dollars? Wow, that is really expensive. Just so you know, although this is a really beautiful set, there are beautiful vintage sets from the 1920s in lovely boxes that are less expensive.

And he wrote back:

Dera Ann,
Thank you very much for your will post this sometime this week.
 Best regards,
Frank

As promised, I have posted the set and if anyone is interested, let me know and I will send you Frank’s information at AOTOMO Mahjong Table Manufacturer. I appreciate Frank contacting me and I am sure his set is lovely and probably perfect for good, hardcore game playing.  Just remember, if you are planning on spending this kind of money on a Mah Jongg set, there are some really beautiful vintage sets at similar prices such as this one pictured – and many others – sold by the wonderful Fracas1 on eBay:

   http://tinyurl.com/mo9xj88