Chinese is a language family consisting of languages mutually unintelligible to varying degrees. Originally it is the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese (hàn rén 汉人) in China, it forms one of the two branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages. About one-fifth of the world’s population, or over one billion people, speak some form of Chinese as their native language. Besides Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Macao SAR, Taiwan Province and the mainland of China, there are people in Singapore, Malaysia and some other countries speak Chinese as their mother tone.

Chinese opera performers mainly have two methods of makeup: masks and facial painting. The frequent on-stage change of masks, without the audience noticing, is a special technique, known as changing faces (biàn liǎn 变脸). Opera facial painting falls into four main categories -- personality makeup (facial designs, painted faces or Lian Pu), decorative makeup (decorated faces), mood makeup (changing facial designs), and pictographic makeup (animal-like facial designs).

   
Residential construction in different parts of China is also called civilian residential housing which is a basic type of architecture. Due to the vast expanse of China, the presence of many ethnic groups, different climatic conditions and ways of life, the residences of people in different parts of the country differ in terms of design and style. The most representative civilian residences in China are the Siheyuan of Beijing (běi jīng sì hé yùan 北京四合院), Cave Dwellings (yáo dòng 窑洞) of the Loess Plateau (huáng tǔ gāo yuán 黄土高原) northwest China, the Earthen Tower (tǔ lóu 土楼) of Kejia (or Hakka) people (kè jiā rén 客家人) in Fujian (fú jiàn shěng 福建省) and Guangdong provinces (guǎng dōng shěng 广东省), and the Mongolian yurt (méng gǔ bāo 蒙古包) in Mongolian nationality.

Unlike Western wines, Chinese wine is distilled from rice, millet and other grains, as well as herbs and flowers. A wide variety of tonic wines (zī bǔ jiǔ 滋补酒) are made with traditional ingredients. The popular rice-based Yellow Wine, is best served warm. It tastes similar to medium-dry sherry (xuě lì jiǔ 雪利酒) and goes well with a wide range of Chinese cuisine, especially during the cool season. Gao Liang (gāo liáng jiǔ 高粱酒) and Mao Tai (máo tái 茅台) are fiery, millet-based distillations with an alcoholic content of 70 per cent. These are definitely best sampled after a hearty meal.