Basic xiangqi sets

I've always had a special interest in Xiangqi, Chinese chess. Besides the board I made myself a long time ago, and the pasta-based set I made recently, I've also gradually built up a bit of a collection of commercially available sets over the years (one of which I already wrote a blog post for). Rather than show each of these in individual blog posts, I thought I'd combine them in just a few blog posts. So here the first of these, showing my most basic Xiangqi sets.

First one here is a very basic set. Pieces are made from a type of plastic, and the board is the foldable paper board that often comes with cheap and basic sets.

Next basic set has simple wooden pieces, and a board made from some sort of thin plastic film.

On to another set of wooden pieces, in rather unusual colours (especially the purple). It did not come with a board, but I put them on a fake leather board I had lying around.

Another set with a fake leather board, which came with the set. The pieces are made of metal.

This is one of several portable magnetic sets. Board and pieces are made of plastic and the symbols on the pieces are painted in metallic red or blue.

Another plastic magnetic portable set; here the board and pieces are made to look a bit like wood.

And the third of the plastic portable magnetic sets. Board is a bit fancier than the other two, and the pieces resemble jade pieces.

A set which is part of a Xiangqi package for beginners, with a small book included. The board is made of cardboard, whereas the pieces are plastic. Note that this set does not have the Chinese symbols, but uses pictograms. The idea is that this will make it easier for people not familiar with the Chinese writing to recognise the various pieces.

One of two small travel sets, also magnetic. This one is plastic, shaped to resemble a wallet.

And this one is all metal.

Finally, a portable plastic magnetic set for Janggi, Korean chess, which is very similar to Chinese chess. I did make a board for a larger set of Janggi pieces in the past.

Besides these basic sets, I have several more fancy Xiangqi sets in the collection; will show them in a future blog post!