Go (known in China as Wei Qi; known in Korean as Baduk) is more and better known in the West in its Japanese term.
It is a board game with 19*19 grid. Whoever can secure more territories, whoever wins.
The first time Go played was in China. Later on, this game spread to Japan.
Go, just like Tofu, seems to be more popular in Japan than in China itself nowadays.
Like Tofu which is the softest item but the hardest to crack under high heat, Go is also attributed with this kind of stark contrast.
Go is the easiest to learn, hardest to play.
On one hand, Go is the easiest game to learn. Only a few rules are needed to remember. People can learn Go within 15 mins.
On the other hand, Go is the hardest game to play. It looks simple. But there are a lot of mystery inside the game. You really need to be devoted to Go for a few months in order to play OK; for years to in order to play like pro.
In Japan, they have the Go Academy where hundreds enroll and have Go as their lifetime career. Like Karate, its rank is divided into 9 dans with just very few people in the whole nation capable of reaching the 9th dan.