Fan skills are body techniques. The fan used on the stage is a special property used to express many kinds of meanings and situations. All roles, especially including the xiao sheng and hua dan, use the fan.
Handkerchief skills are also body techniques originating from a song-and-dance duet popular in Northeast China and developed from Jiqu Opera. Traditionally, the handkerchief had either four or eight corners. It can be waved and turned inside out, shaken, held up, kicked, thrown, or propped up with a finger. In the past few years other kinds of handkerchiefs have appeared on the opera stage.