Peking Opera is one of the most popular forms of Chinese Opera, which is largely influenced by the imperial Qing dynasty over 200 years ago. Peking  Opera started on Emperor Qianlong’s 80th birthday, when four of the popular Chinese Opera troupes came to Beijing.  They learned from each other and formed the Peking opera.  Master Mei Lan-Fang(梅蘭芳) was one of the most famous Peking Opera artists in modern Chinese theater.  Master Mei was the first artist to spread Peking Opera to international market.  His contribution to Chinese Opera has spread the interest of studying Chinese opera outside of China.  Each object on stage and each movement can represent different meanings.  For example, a table on stage is not just a table; it can represent something else.  Each body movement represents different meanings.  To fully appreciate Peking Opera, you must understand the meaning of each object and performance technique. There is a profound knowledge in Peking Opera.  For someone who does not understand the art, he/she can still appreciate the fancy costumes and enjoy the show.  

Peking Opera characters are divided into 4 different categories.  Sheng 生, Dan 旦, Jing 净 , and Chou 丑.  
Sheng 生 is main male role.   Characters such as Xu Xian 許仙 is xiao (young) sheng 小生, Zhu Ge Liang 諸葛亮 is lao (old) sheng 老生,  Wu Song 武松 is wu (fighter) sheng 武生.
Dan 旦 is any female role.  Hua (flower) Dan 花旦 refers to lady who is never married.  QingYi 青衣 refers to virtuous and elite women.  Usually this character is dressed in black. Empress Yang is also QingYi, but because of her status she wears a luxurious dress.  On stage, QingYi usually sings with little talking.  Wu (fighter) Dan武旦 is a female character who knows Kung Fu.  Lao (old) Dan 老旦 refers to an older lady.
Jing 净  is a painted face male role.   There are 3 main types Jing characters. Tongchui 銅錘花臉 is heavily involved in singing ,  jiazi架子花臉 roles involve little singing and more physical acts, and wujing 武花臉 roles less singing and more martial art and acrobatic performances.
Chou 丑 is a male clown role.  Chou roles can be divided into Wen Chou 文丑, civilian roles such as merchants and jailers, and Wu Chou 武丑, minor military roles.  Chou character needs to have a good strong voice. Usually this type of character uses tricks, comic moves, and  acrobatics to display the nature of this character.  
The above characters can be identified by their social statuses and by the way they dress.   The audience can easily identify the social status by their costumes.   In Chinese Opera, male characters use beards to show age.  They use different movements of the beard to show different types of emotions, such as anger, nervousness and etc..  Usually no beard for age 20 and under,  black beard for age 40, gray beard for age 60 and white beard for age 80 and above.  Makeup also represents different types of character.  Different vocal scales also display different types of characters.  For example, Lao Sheng or Lao Dan typically uses original voice.  A colorful face uses resonance voice.  Xiao Sheng, QingYi, and Hua Dan typically use falsetto.  There are four basic shapes for the throat and mouth, corresponding to four vowel types.   The four throat and mouth shapes are “opened-mouth” (kai 開 ), “level-teeth” (qichi齊 ), “scooped-lips” (cuo 撮), and  “closed-mouth” (Huo合).    Chinese Opera emphasizes  6 skills and 5 methods.  The six skills are singing, reading, fighting, dancing, and acrobatic.  The 5 methods are hands, eyes, body, steps, and rules.