Beijing Opera (or Peking Opera) has its long history for over 200 years. It is widely considered to be the highest representation of the Chinese culture and deeply influenced the hearts of the Chinese people. Also known as one of the three main theatrical systems in the world. Artistically, Beijing Opera is commonly supposed to be the most refined form of opera in the world. Surveys show there are 368 different forms of opera throughout China.

Beijing Opera was originated from Anhui and Hubei provinces that where it got its two main melodies, Xi_Pi and Er_Huang. There are thousands of pieces covering the grand history and literature of China, some even including revised stories of the western culture. Beijing Opera with its scenic art integrating music, literature, dialogue, acrobatics, martial arts, and pantomime, aria, and face-painting. The combination of virtual and reality - a special technique of expression, keeps it generally free from the restriction of time and space on stage performance.

There are currently four main role catagories in Beijing Opera. They are Sheng, Dan, Jing and Chou. Sheng in Chinese may mean "strange" or "rare", but in the opera the chief male is a character shows on of most seen. Sheng has some sub-catagories, including Senior, Junior, Acrobatic, Junior Acrobatic, Child, Red-face, Poor, Official, etc. These are classified according to the role's characteristics. Male roles are either civil or military. The actors themselves are mainly trained for three main parts: Senior Male Role or Lao Sheng, a middle-aged or old man who wears a beard, Junior Male Role or Xiao Sheng (Hsiao sheng), a young man; and Acrobatic Male Role or Wu Sheng, a man of military tenor, especially skilled in acrobatics.

Dan, which means "morning", "masculine", is the female role. It can be divided into six main parts which basically indicate character; Qing Yi, is the synonymous of modest and virtuous; Hua dan the flirtatious; Gui Men Dan normally a young, married girl; Dao Ma Dan, a stronger, more forceful character, usually a woman general; Wu Dan the female acrobat; and Lao Dan, an old woman.

Jing means "clean" is the painted face male. In fact, the paintings on face make the charaters look like unclean but just colorful. The Jing actors are warriors or officials, the actor for the first time is a startling experience for the spectator with the astonishing courage and resourcefulness than for scholarly intelligence. The Jing are usually extroverts and normally red for good, white for treacherous, black for brusque, and blue for wild.

Chou is the Comedy Role, Chou characters are usually active and quick. Sometimes the Chou can be a rascal , a scholar or prince. Chou parts can be divided into two types: Wen Chou, who is usually a civilian, such as a jailer, servant, merchant or scholar; and Wu Chou, who performs minor military roles as a soldier and must be skilled in acrobatics. Basically they are the role of the fool with blinking eyes and all the appropriate gestures.

The most famous masters in the field of Beijing Opera are Dans - Mei Lanfang, Cheng Yanqiu, Shang Xiaoyun and Xun Huisheng.

There are also some best known forms of Chinese operas like Pingju (popular in the north), Shaoxing opera (popular in Zhejing Province and Shanghai), Yuju (a kind of Henan Opera), Kunqu (Kunshan Opera, popular mainly in Jiangsu Province), Qinqiang (Shaanxi Opera), Chuanju (Sichuan Opera) etc.