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Most who take the Second Breath manifest in their mortal bodies. The Yin and Yang used to effect the reanimation ensure that the bodies in question appear much as they did during breathing days. For example, a few Kuei-jin display the "zombie" features characteristic of the Risen, though vampires suffering from an excess of Yin often look grotesque indeed.

Occasionally, a Kuei-jin reincarnates in a body different from the one that housed its twin soul during mortal life. This manifestation is especially common if the body was cremated, though certain vampires claim to have re-formed their very ashes upon taking the Second Breath.

Likewise, all Kuei-jin must maintain some sort of balance between their dual souls. Each Kuei-jin has a Hun soul, the embodiment of her higher, rational self. However, upon undergoing the Second Breath, each Kuei-jin awakes her P'o -- or Demon, as some Kuei-jin call it -- never remains quiescent. Indeed, the P'o takes on a distinct -- and malignant -- personality of its own. Constantly goading the Cathayan to improper actions, the P'o is sometimes able to possess the vampire entirely, forcing it to commit shameful deeds.

Cathayans with strong Hun are creatures of honor and temperance. Although no vampire escapes the grip of the Demon, Hum-aspected vampires are the best at controlling the instinctive impulses of hunger and rage.

Conversely, vampires with strong P'o are wild and savage, unruly and animalistic. Other vampires find them insufferable, yet even detractors concede the utility of the Demon-ridden in a battle. A few Kuei-jin actively exalt their demonic natures, but most do not have the stomach for such a repulsive task.

Some Cathayans see balance between Hun and P'o as the only true path to transcendence. For these vampires, the P'o must be cultivated, shaped and nurtured, like a bonsai, yet trimmed carefully lest it overgrow its bounds.

Keui-jin differ profoundly from Kindred in many respects, both physiologically and psychologically.

- Aggravated Damage:
Kuei-jin take aggravated damage from fire, the teeth and claws of shen, and certain Chi-augmented attacks. Kuei-jin rot, rather than burn, in sunlight.

- Beast:
Over the centuries, Keui-jin have become intimately familiar with their primal, instinctual souls (which they refer to as P'o). All Kuei-jin have a P'o Virtue, representing the strength of their inner Demon; the P'o has its own Nature and can actually prove beneficial to the characters. However, the P'o is as unpredictable as any Western Beast and much more clever; incautious Kuei-jin can find themselves trapped and helpless in their own bodies, as the P'o rampages out of control.

- Blood Bond:
"We are all of one blood," the Kuei-jin say sincerely (well, hypocritically). Kuei-jin blood is naturally "inert" and cannot be used to create a Blood Bond. Certain Disciplines, though, allow marked exceptions to this rule.

- Dharmas:
Kuei-jin have been sent back to the Middle Kingdom for a purpose, and it is their duty to find out what that purpos is. Kuei-jin categorize their personal beliefs through a series of codes, which are known as Dharmas. These Dharmas resemble the Sabbat's Paths of Enlightenment, but are much more rigorous -- and much more rewarding. Following one's Dharma leads a vampire to greater understanding of her condition and ultimately to Golconda.

- Diablerie:
Keui-jin have no generation per se, but they are more than capable of feeding on one another. In fact, they have refined the craft of soul-stealing to a science, and certain powers are even based upon it. Some Kuei-jin hold diablerie in every bit as much dread as their Western counterparts, while others govern its use through elaborate ceremonies.

- Disciplines:
Kuei-jin use Disciplines, but not the ones known in the West. Centuries of studying the physiological and psychological nuances of undeath have given them great insight into the vampiric fream and soul. This insight can easily become a weapon, as many Kindred have found to their horror.

- Embrace:
Cathayans are not victims of a random Embrace. They are truly undead -- dead mortals cursed to return from the spirit worlds and reincarnate in the Middle Kingdom. This process, call the Second Breath, is similar to that undergone by the Risen -- but Kuei-jin are not wraiths in mortal shells. Pathos is meaningless to them, for Kuei-jin have no overriding passion, save hunger; instead, Kuei-jin must fuel their powers by ingesting Chi.

- Fangs:
Kuei-jin have no fangs naturally, though they may sprout them by calling upon the P'o.

- Final Death:
Final Death is just as real for Kuei-jin as it is for Kindred. Upon Final Death, the soul exits the corpse, which immediately collapses and crumbles to ash. Indeed, Kuei-jin fear Final Death as few other creatures do. For them, they believe, there will be no further reincarnation. If they die unfulfilled yet again, the Great Cycle will cast them out, and they will meet an Oblivion equal to that of the most monstrous Spectre.

- Frenzy and Rotschreck:
The P'o is as real for Kuei-jin as the Beast for Kindred, Asian vampires can suffer not only from frenzy and Rotschrek, but also can literally be possessed by their P'o souls. A Cathayan refers to his "normal" state of mine as "wa nature." When frenzied, he us in the grip of "fire nature." When maddened with terror, he suffers from "wave nature." And when the P'o rises to control him, he experiences the state known as "shadow nature."

- Generations:
Kuei-jin do not believe themselves to be descended from Caine, and thus, the concept of generation is irrelevant to them. They measure their power by age and by progress along their Dharmas. As a side effect, there are no "clans" of Cathayans; though they typically group themselves into sects, hierarchies, schools and other social structures, such units are not dictated by the vagaries of the Blood.

- Ghouls:
Kuei-jin cannot create ghouls. It is their karma to bear their curse alone, not to share it with others. However, Yang imbalanced Kuei-jin can become pregnant or impregnate others! The hybrid children thus birthed are called dhampyrs.

- Golconda:
Most Kuei-jin believe themselves to have been sent back to the Middle Kingdom for a specific reason -- and most, hating their tormented and unnatural state, seek to find a way out of their existence. The Kindred's concept of "Golconda" may actually be a Cainite's (Cappadocius' or Saulot's, perhaps) flawed interpretation of Kuei-jin practices.

- Imbalance:
Kuei-jin must regulate their Chi intake carefully, lest they suffer from Chi imbalance. An imbalance of Yin Chi often leads to the vampire becoming more corpse-like and inhuman over time; conversely, an imbalance of Yang can lead to the outbreak of various deadly and exceedingly contagious vampiric diseases.

- Stake Through the Heart:
A stake through the heart does not automatically paralyze a Kuei-jin. However, the heart is instrumental in processing Chi energy, and certani types of attacks can disrupt the Chi flow in a Keui-jin's body. Vampires of Yin prove vulnerable to wood, the element of Yang; conversely, vampires of the Yang are vulnerable to metal, the element of Yin.

- Sunlight:
Kuei-jin are vulnerable to sunlight in some measure, but their degree of vulnerability varies according to the amount of Yin energy in their bodies. They do not "burn" in the light; rather, they rot, as the Yang enevery of the sun corrodes the unnatural magics keeping the Kuei-jin corpse animate.

- Sustenance:
Not all Kuei-jin need to drink blood to obtain sustenance. The lowest, the chih-mei, take their Chi from human flesh (or that of other sentient beings). More refined vampires can "drink" breath, spirits and even raw essences. As a side effect, Kuei-jin are perfectly capable of eating and drinking normal food and beverages, though such things provide no nourishment. Kuei-jin can even get drunk, though the quantity of alcohol required for such a feat is truly prodigious (assume a Kuei-jin can drink 10 times as much liquor as the average mortal).

- Torpor:
Torpor, for the Kuei-jin, is a state called the Little Death. During the Little Death, the vampire's body "dies," but the dual soul lingers on within the corpse. Kuei-jin fear the Little Death, for it is a harrowing time of visions and nightmares, when the spirit is quite vulnerable to hostile magics. Many Kuei-jin lose their Dharmic way after entering the Little Death.

- Virtues:
Kuei-jin do not possess the Virtues of Conscience, Self-Control and Courage. Instead, they use the two opposed pairs of Yin and Yang, Hun and P'o. Yin measures the Kuei-jin's sensitivity to negative energies, while Yang measures the vampire's receptivity for positive energies. Hun is the higher, "rational" soul, while P'o is the lower soul -- the Demon.