Let’s remove the common misperceptions surrounding Beijing Opera as a Chinese art form to better understand its unique and multifaceted storytelling approach.

Here are five common myths eager to be dispelled:

1. Beijing Opera is the oldest form of Chinese Opera

Beijing Opera (京剧, Jīngjù) aka Peking Opera clocks in at a youthful 200 years old and is only one of the 360+ local Chinese operas. By comparison, the influential Kun Opera (昆剧, Kūnjù) musical theater finds its roots in Kunshan, Jiangsu province, and originated more than 600 years ago.

2. Everyone in the audience easily follows the lines

North China plays host to the majority of Beijing Opera performances, however, even to the ears of northern audiences, following the lyrics of a Beijing Opera is not nearly as easy as, say, listening to a daily conversation. The pronunciation of Beijing Opera lyrics draws upon a combination of dialects, including those of Hubei, Anhui, Henan and Beijing.

3. Beijing Opera is all about the singing

Beijing Opera straddles multiple forms of performance: singing, acting, dancing and acrobatics. Worldwide the “musical” as a theatrical production developed from light opera in the early 20th century (its first use as a term was recorded in 1823), so in a way, we could say that Beijing Opera is an ancient form of musical. That said, the Beijing Opera audience expects to see a combination of singing, witty dialogue, kaleidoscopic costumes, exaggerated makeup, minimalist stage art, and yes, sometimes even dancing, acrobatics and martial arts.

4. All Beijing Opera characters have painted faces

Sheng and Dan faces have makeup but are unpainted. The painted-face roles which have become Beijing Opera icons are mostly Jing. The male clown Chou role has a white patch in the center of its face, and with less fancy painting than Jing. See the nearby graphic for a further description of the four main character types.