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It takes Chinese opera singer Gabrielle Chan at least one and a half hours to get ready for a performance.
"I have a lot of layers to put on — base foundation, then powder, a layer of colour and another layer of colour, and then finally a touch-up," she says — and that's just the make-up.
There are also hairstyles to craft, as well as ornate headdresses and elaborate costumes to don.
"Because of my age, my skin is drooping," she adds, "so there's a lot of face to lift with a lot of sticky tape."
There are more than 100 distinct forms of Chinese opera – Peking from northern China, Kunqu from the east, and Sichuan from the west.
In fact, Peking opera was inscribed on UNESCO's list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010, demonstrating its importance to world culture.
Gabrielle has been performing the Cantonese style from southern China for the past 30 years.
She says learning how to perform Chinese opera is no small feat.
"It took us years and years of training," Gabrielle explains, "one minute on the stage requires 10 years of training off the stage."
A minimalist set with extravagant costumes
Chinese operas use minimalist sets, which means characters and stories need to be expressed through extravagant clothes and specific movements.
"A Chinese opera is told with imagination because the only scenery that we see is usually an embroidered backdrop," theatre and costume historian Fiona Reilly explains.
Costumes and make-up are vital to the audience's understanding of the characters.
"It's the performers who bring us into the world of the opera," she adds.
"When the audience sees you – the minute you come on stage – they know who you are.
"It's the performer's interpretation of the subtleties of that character that the audience can actually appreciate."
Through this ancient art form, stories of great heroes and battles, myths and folklore, have been told for generations.
"The lyrics are so beautiful," Gabrielle says, explaining her attraction to the art form.
"One tiny, little paragraph and it just helps me so much. There's a lot of subtext. You have to drill down, just like poetry. There's all this imagination."
With the addition of "exquisite and colourful costumes" and make-up, Gabrielle believes there isn't anyone who wouldn't fall in love with Chinese opera.
"It represents a deep knowledge of the evolution of our Chinese culture," she says.
Chinese opera is in danger of 'disappearing'
Chinese opera has a long history, with its popularity reaching its peak in the 13th century during the Song dynasty.
Originally, it was performed for the general public but it became more exclusive over the centuries, with performances reserved for imperial courts.
Then there was the Cultural Revolution.
Shirley Chan, an associate professor in Chinese Studies at Macquarie University, says this period did real damage to Chinese opera.
"You saw the systematic erasure of traditional Chinese culture," she explains.
"A lot of the professional actors and performers were persecuted, and the performance of opera was outlawed during that time."
Since then, generations of Chinese people have had limited exposure to the art form.
"This particular art form is in danger of disappearing or not keeping up the number of audience," she says.
"There were more than 300 Chinese opera styles that existed, but in the 21st century the government could only identify 162.
"[But] this cultural heritage is a very important [part of] cultural, regional or even national identity. This is something that many of the audience, especially the older generations, feel proud of as well."
The Chinese government is now desperate to revive Chinese opera.
It is building more theatres across the country and giving out free tickets to school students.
A popular reality television program, The Voice of China, even created a special series highlighting Yueju opera, which originated in the Zhejiang province and was later popularised in Shanghai.
Performing Chinese opera 'requires a lot of patience to get it correct'
Fourteen-year-old Angela Zhao is early in her journey to become a Chinese opera performer.
She has already spent three years learning how to change her face in the Sichuan style.
Loading"The most challenging part was the start," she says. "It requires a lot of patience to get it correct."
A dancer must learn to change from one face to another in the blink of an eye — and how to do it is a closely guarded secret.
"It's really nice that it's a secret because if everybody knew how it was done it wouldn't be fun and interesting to everybody," Angela says.
Angela has been learning Sichuan opera from Jin Zi, who went to an opera school in Zhejiang province when she was a teenager.
"Every student had their own strength," Zi says.
"I had a background in gymnastics, so I was aiming to be a dancer, while some students might have a better voice.
"Everyone had a different direction."
LoadingChinese opera is more than singing – it's equal parts martial arts, acrobatics, literature, music and dance.
Zi hopes Chinese opera performances will once again be as popular as when she was a child.
"Every Chinese New Year, our troupe would go to the countryside to perform," she recalls.
"Those places were not connected to roads, so we could only walk there. For those villagers, it was so important because they'd only see it once a year.
"Since I left China, I realised it's not just a job anymore, it's about passing down to the next generation."
Gabrielle understands the weight of this responsibility too.
"I try my best to organise shows, to introduce this culture to the Westerner," she says, "because there is a small Chinese opera community here [in Australia]."
"It's open to the public — especially the younger generation, and especially the Western world."
Samuel Yang presents China Tonight, Fridays at 8pm AEDT on the ABC News Channel or catch up any time on ABC iview.