Got this off the internet. How to type Chinese characters using windows XP 1. Start- control panel - regional language options - languages - details -add - Chinese (PRC) {This option is above EN (English) and Chinese (Taiwan)}- keyboard layout - O.K. - language bar - show language bar - ok. - ok 2. On the language bar, choose ¡°Microsoft pinyin IME,¡± choose ¡°full shape.¡± Then click ¡°context menu¡±, click ¡°properties¡± - ¡°prompt step by step¡±, and click ¡°word¡± - ok 3. Open Word, just type pinyin of some words, at the end of the word or phrase, press enter, the characters will be shown on the screen. If the characters are not the ones you want, choose different ones by typing the number for the character you want. 4. Please change the size of the characters to at least 20. It will be easy to see and check if the character you choose is correct.