Hong Kong Mahjong · 1 fan
No Flowers (Wu Fa) in Hong Kong Mahjong: Fan, Examples and Odds
In Hong Kong mahjong, No Flowers (無花) is worth 1 fan: when you win, there is not a single flower tile in front of you — none in your opening hand and none drawn during play — and you add 1 fan.
Hong Kong mahjong uses all 144 tiles, including the eight flowers (four seasons and four plants). Flowers never stay in your hand: you expose one as soon as you draw it and take a replacement from the back of the wall. No Flowers sounds trivial, but at a 3-fan-minimum table it is often exactly the fan that decides whether you can win at all.
On this page
The rules for No Flowers
- No flower tiles at all when you win: no seasons, no plants
- Flowers from the opening replacement and flowers drawn during play both count
- It does not depend on the hand: discard win, self-draw, open or concealed all qualify
- Any flower removes it; your own seat's flower scores Own Flower instead, and a full set of four scores Flower Set
How No Flowers is scored
The fan below are computed live by the same scoring code the game uses.
Won on a discard
| Concealed hand (門前清) | 1 |
| All chows (平糊) | 1 |
| No flowers (無花) | 1 |
| Total | 3 fan |
|---|
Anything over 10 fan scores 10 (the limit).
Won on a discard
| Concealed hand (門前清) | 1 |
| All chows (平糊) | 1 |
| Total | 2 fan |
|---|
Anything over 10 fan scores 10 (the limit).
Common combinations:
| Combination | Fan |
|---|---|
| No Flowers | 1 fan |
| No Flowers + Concealed + All Chows | 3 fan |
| No Flowers + Self-drawn + dragon pung | 3 fan |
| No Flowers + All Pungs | 4 fan |
| No Flowers + Mixed One Suit | 4 fan |
How it relates to other hands
- Own Flower: each flower of your own seat scores 1 fan. You never have both Own Flower and No Flowers.
- Flower Set: all four seasons or all four plants score 2 fan.
- All Chows and Concealed Hand: together with No Flowers they make the most common 3-fan "chicken" win.
- All Eight Flowers: collecting all eight flowers is a limit hand — the exact opposite.
So the worst case is drawing a flower that is not your seat's: you lose No Flowers' 1 fan and get nothing back.
No Flowers odds
How many flowers after the deal
With eight flowers among 144 tiles, after the opening replacement a seat has no flower at all about 45% of the time, and exactly one about 37%.
| Flowers after the opening replacement | Chance |
|---|---|
| 0 | 45% |
| 1 | 37% |
| 2 | 14% |
| 3 | 3.3% |
| 4+ tiles | 0.60% |
Source: 400,000 deals on this site (144 tiles with flowers; each seat counted after the opening flower replacement).
How many wins still have no flowers
No flowers at the start doesn't mean none at the end — you keep drawing. Over 100,000 computer hands on this site, No Flowers appeared in 27% of wins and Own Flower in 49%. Roughly one win in four is completely flower-free.
- Wins with No Flowers averaged 3.3 fan; all wins averaged 3.4.
- Of the wins with No Flowers, 49% were self-drawn.
Playing with or without flowers
- Someone else's flower at the start: No Flowers is gone, so the 3 fan must come from elsewhere — keep the hand concealed, look for self-draws and scoring pungs.
- No flowers at all: you already have 1 fan; a concealed all-chows discard win is enough, so you can play for speed.
- You can't choose flowers: they are exposed and replaced automatically, but you can decide how big to build depending on whether No Flowers is still alive.
To try it, open a table of online Hong Kong mahjong — the computers play with you, replace flowers and count the fan for you.
No Flowers in other mahjong styles
Not every style has flowers: Sichuan mahjong has no flower tiles and Japanese riichi normally doesn't use them. Taiwanese mahjong also has eight flowers but scores them its own way — see the Taiwanese mahjong tai list.
FAQ
How many fan is No Flowers?
In Hong Kong mahjong No Flowers is worth 1 fan. You get it when there is no flower tile in front of you when you win.
Do I still get No Flowers if I drew someone else's flower?
No. Any flower removes it. If it's your own seat's flower you score Own Flower (1 fan) instead; otherwise you get nothing.
Can No Flowers and Own Flower both count?
No. No Flowers means no flowers at all and Own Flower means you have one, so only one of them can apply.
How many fan is No Flowers + All Chows + Concealed?
Each is 1 fan, so 3 fan in total — exactly the 3-fan minimum.
Related hands
Own Flower 1 fan
Each flower of your own seat is 1 fan: which flowers belong to East, South, West and North, scoring two of them, and how often you get one.
Flower Set 2 fan
All four flowers of one set are 2 fan: how it combines with Own Flower, when it becomes All Eight Flowers, and how rare it is.
All Chows 1 fan
Four chows and a pair is 1 fan: how it differs from a chicken hand, open hands, building 3 fan, and how common it is.
Try it at the table
Hong Kong Mahjong — Play classic Hong Kong (Cantonese) mahjong free in your browser against three computer opponents. 13-tile hands, flowers, 3-fan minimum, 10-fan limit and automatic fan scoring. No sign-up, works on phone and desktop.