Their differences are mainly found in the music and topolect the stories are often shared and borrowed. In the 20th century the Peking opera emerged in popularity and has come to known as the 'national theatre' of China, but other genres like Shaoxing opera, Cantonese opera, Yu opera, kunqu, qinqiang, Huangmei opera, pingju, and Sichuan opera are also performed regularly before dedicated fans. There are over a hundred regional branches of traditional Chinese opera today. Early forms of Chinese theater are simple, but over time they incorporated various art forms, such as music, song and dance, martial arts, acrobatics, costume and make-up art, as well as literary art forms to become traditional Chinese opera.

It is a composite performance art that is an amalgamation of various art forms that existed in ancient China, and evolved gradually over more than a thousand years, reaching its mature form in the 13th century during the Song dynasty (960–1279). Traditional Chinese opera ( Chinese: 戲曲 pinyin: xìqǔ Jyutping: hei3 kuk1), or Xiqu, is a popular form of drama and musical theatre in China with roots going back to the early periods in China.

Early forms of Chinese theater are simple, but over time they incorporated various art forms, such as music, song and dance, martial arts, acrobatics, costume and make-up art, as well as literary art forms to become traditional Chinese opera.There are over a hundred regional branches of traditional Chinese opera today. Traditional Chinese opera (Chinese: 戲曲 pinyin: xìqǔ Jyutping: hei3 kuk1), or Xiqu, is a popular form of drama and musical theatre in China with roots going back to the early periods in China.

Chinese opera instruments