Papier-mâché face mask.
Peking Opera tells different stories about famous people from Chinese history and folklore. The actors wear bright colourful costumes, masks and/or face paintings. In the past actors only wore masks, but these days they normally paint their faces instead. The face colours and designs tell the audience more about the character in the story. In the Peking Opera performers have two ways of covering their face: facial painting and masks. When they are on stage they can change their appearance by quickly pulling down a mask which they wear, unnoticed by the audience, on their head. Performers are highly trained at theatre schools and both men and women can perform in Chinese opera.
