Despite the high cost of over 30,000 yuan (US$3,614) for one set of facility, the hotel did not hesitate to buy four sets, especially after seeing the rapid popularity that shuffleboard has gained over the last year in Beijing.

Composed of a long table with smooth sand spread on its surface and pucks wrapped with metal, shuffleboard bears a certain resemblance to bowling except that what awaits the pucks in the end are not pins but four lines marked with varying points.

"The sand spread on the table is made of fine corn and silicone wax." said Zhu Xiaojie, supervisor of the hotel's recreational department.

"By spreading a layer of sand, the surface of the board becomes especially smooth, which adds a lot of difficulty to the shooting of pucks."

Road to fame

The shuffleboard, first called shoveboard and then, inexplicably, shovelboard, appears to have originated in England, where there is a record of it being played in 1532.

In its earliest form it consisted of shoving coins across a polished tabletop as a pastime for royalty, but later the game became so popular with the masses that people stopped going to work, causing it to be banned.

Shuffleboard first came to the United States and enjoyed tremendous growth during the late 1800s and early 1900s. The great hotels in Atlantic City had five or six tables each.

Then came prohibition. Speakeasys didn't want games of skill. They had been assured of all they needed to be successful in their businesses by the US Congress.

It was during this eight- to 10-year period that shuffleboard began to decline.

Following the repeal of Prohibition, shuffleboard players began to reappear, largely on the East Coast.

The game hit its greatest height of popularity in the 1950s. Most major shuffleboard manufacturers sponsored nationwide shuffleboard tournaments. These were the biggest tournaments ever held; one tournament had 576 teams participating.

( Shanghai Star February 11, 2002)