© Getty Images

Traditional Chinese opera - Traditional Chinese opera is a popular form of drama and musical theater that dates back to the early periods in China.

© Reuters

Origin - The composite performance art is the result of various art forms that existed in ancient China.

© Reuters

Origin - The ancient traditions gradually evolved over more than a thousand years, reaching its mature form in the 13th century during the Song Dynasty.

© Reuters

Mixed arts - Though early forms of Chinese theater are simple, traditional Chinese opera incorporates various art forms including music, song and dance, martial arts, acrobatics, as well as literary art forms.

© Reuters

Regional variations - Traditional Chinese opera has regional variants including the Beijing opera, Shaoxing opera, Cantonese opera, kunqu, lüju and others.

© Reuters

Variants - There are over 360 different types of Chinese opera.

© Reuters

Beijing Opera - This variant places a lot of weight on symbolism, in which footwork, gesture, and various kinds of body movements portray the actions of opening a door, climbing a hill, going upstairs, or rowing a boat.

© Reuters

Shaoxing opera - This variant dates back to the early 20th century and is characterized by the soft and beautiful voices of its characters, which are always women, who portray even male roles.

© Reuters

Huangmei opera - One of the most popular types, Huangmei opera is a form of rural folksong and dance that dates back at least 200 years.

© Reuters

Cantonese opera - In Cantonese opera, performers will often spend their entire career studying one character.

© Reuters

Shanxi opera - Special effects and tricks such as juggling acrobatics and fire breathing are common in Shanxi opera.

© Reuters

Significance -

Before the widespread introduction of formal education, operas often served as a vehicle to spread morals, virtues, and other civic messages.

© Getty Images

Masks - The color of a character’s mask stands for different feelings, with the dominant color offering insight about the identity of the character.

© Reuters

Meaning of colors: White - White represents sinister, evil, crafty, treacherous, suspicious, and hypocritical.

© Reuters

Meaning of colors: Green - Green represents characters who are violent, impulsive, and lack restraint or self control.

© Reuters

Meaning of colors: Red -

Red stands for prosperous, loyal, brave, heroic, and intelligence.

© Shutterstock

Meaning of colors: Black - Black stands for neutral, but it also indicates integrity and can mean fierceness.

© Reuters

Meaning of colors: Yellow - Yellows is ambitious, fierce, intelligent, and can also mean cruel, evil, or sly.

© Reuters

Meaning of colors: Purple -

Purple represents justice and sophistication.

© Getty Images

Meaning of colors: Blue - Blue stands for neutrality, but it can also mean stubborn, astute, and fierce.

© Reuters

Meaning of colors: Silver - Silver means a god or demon, and can also indicate a ghost or spirit.

© Reuters

Makeup - The makeup required in Chinese opera takes hours to apply, involving an intricate process that requires special techniques and lots of layering.

© Reuters

Stock characters - Similar to what you would see in a commedia dell’arte, Chinese opera characters are often archetypal, so audiences generally know what their reactions to certain situations will be.

© Reuters

Ch'ou character - One example is the Ch'ou character in Beijing opera, who is a clown, normally of low status. They are the only characters to use slang and improvise speeches.

© Reuters

There are 3 types of ch'ou - There are military, civil and female Ch'ous. 

© Reuters

Pay gap - Chinese opera is one of the few professions in China in which women consistently make more money than men.

© Reuters

Pay - While women are paid more, men still often play female roles in comedic operas.

© Reuters

Costumes - Incredibly ornate, Chinese opera costumes can cost small fortunes, so they are often passed from teacher to student. 

© Reuters

Costumes -

So much so, that some performers today use costumes from the 1940s!

See also: China's most impressive knock off wonders

© Reuters