Eyebrows furrowed in careful concentration as he chisels images and Chinese characters onto mahjong tiles, 70-year-old Cheung Shun-king is one of the last craftsmen of his kind in Hong Kong. Hand carving playing tiles for the popular Chinese game used to be a source of income for many, but the introduction of much cheaper machine-made sets whittled away at their customer base and turned their work into a rarity. Cheung’s family alone used to own four separate shops, where as a teenager he learned his trade. Now only one remains. “I have given my youth to it,” he says of his work. “I don’t know if I’ll have the energy to carry on in a few years, but for now, I’ll continue to do it.” Cheung’s store is on a street lined with mahjong parlours, but none of them buy their tiles from him. “My mahjong sets are expensive,” he admits. A full set of hand-carved tiles costs HK$5,500 (US$700), he says, whereas machine-carved ones are around HK$2,000. The game of Mahjong is an integral part of Chinese culture, but the manufacturing of the games tiles has become largely automated. In Hong Kong, Cheung Shun-king is one of the last remaining hand-carvers of mahjong tiles. Video: Anagha...