Bian lian

Bian Lian Performer

Bian Lian (traditional Chinese: 變臉; simplified Chinese: 变脸; pinyin: Biàn Liǎn; lit. 'Face-Changing') is an ancient Chinese dramatic art that is part of the more general Sichuan opera. Performers wear brightly colored costumes and move to quick, dramatic music. They also wear vividly colored masks, typically depicting well known characters from the opera, which they change from one face to another almost instantaneously with the swipe of a fan, a movement of the head, or wave of the hand.