MengTzu: NO to all 4. It is easy to learn a few chinese characters and you will be familiar with them after 1-2 games. I have more fun playing with original pieces. I regard special boards and pieces as an additional barrier. There are better ways to make Xiangi more popular in non-asian countries than to invent a new design.
(hide) Do you keep losing on timeouts? Paying members can activate Automatic Vacation to automatically set vacation days when they would timeout. (pauloaguia) (show all tips)