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China’s poker-style game, mentioned at ‘two sessions’, takes Communist Party by storm with players ‘throwing eggs’
- The poker-style pastime, enjoyed by senior leaders, has spread beyond Beijing’s bureaucracy to junior and senior party officials alike
- Official from the game’s home city hopes to bring it international popularity with proposal to the ‘two sessions’ political meeting in Beijing
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Sylvie Zhuangin Beijing
A Chinese card game that is fast becoming an essential social skill within the Communist Party system looks set to rise to the status of a new national sport, while there are also moves to spread its appeal around the world.
The poker-style game guandan – which means “throwing eggs” because of the way players slam their cards on the table – was even mentioned at last week’s “two sessions”, the annual political meetings in Beijing.
Qiu Huakang, vice-mayor of Huaian in Jiangsu province and a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the top political advisory body, proposed that guandan should be designated as the game’s official English name.
The game originated in Huaian in the 1960s and giving it an official English name could help it to become just as popular in other countries, according to Qiu.
In an interview with Guangdong-based media outlet Southern Metropolis on Friday, Qiu said guandan could become a cherished international intellectual sport, based on how popular it is in China.
The South China Morning Post spoke to eight contacts from a range of government bodies and state-owned enterprises, who all said guandan has taken public sectors across the country by storm since it was embraced by bureaucrats in Beijing.
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