Chinatown
Can you keep a Shop tile you choose not to place, or must it be discarded?
Several players agree and the rulebook never calls for discarding; the designer reply is a bare endorsement without context.
No, nothing makes you discard it. You can decline to place a Shop tile, keep it in hand, and build or trade it in a later turn. Unplaced tiles earn no income, and the rules set no hand limit. Setup puts every tile in the bag, so none is removed from the game.