Traditional hand-carved mahjong is made of wood, ivory or bamboo plates. The making process involves cutting, polishing, carving and colouring. The hand-carved mahjong is delicate and it was popular from the 1960s to the 1980s until machine-carved mahjong emerged. As a result, the hand-carved mahjong industry started to decline and this craftsmanship has become a dying art in Hong Kong.