Language & WorldHow it works
How to type tens of thousands of Chinese characters with 26 keys.
You type the romanisation pinyin, say "ma", and the system lists every character with that pronunciation; you pick one by number. Modern input methods take whole clauses at once and guess the right characters from dictionary, grammar and context. Initials often suffice: "yyh" for yīnyuèhuì, concert. Since every child in mainland China learns pinyin, it's the most popular input method.
Useful: Typing Chinese is now often faster than writing it, which is why many people can read characters they can no longer write by hand.
Source: en.wikipedia.org