Writing Styles

Chinese texts are written in either the Literary/Classical (Wen Yan)
or Vernacular/Modern (Bai Hua) styles. The classical style was the
primary form of writing until the May Fourth Movement (1919). Hence,
the Chinese Tripitaka is entirely written in classical style. Note
that classical Chinese is used for the main bulk of classical (i.e.
pre-May Fourth) Chinese literature, not only Buddhist literature. So,
classical Chinese is not entirely 'lost' or locked in religious text.
Chinese poems and proverbs can be considered to be in the classical
style too, though some would classify them otherwise.

Modern Chinese is different from Classical Chinese in grammar in
certain areas only. A person well-drilled in Modern Chinese can pick
up Classical Chinese easily, and vice versa. From a Western point of
view, there are great distinctions between Classical and Modern
Chinese. However, both the classical and modern styles of writing
have co-existed for thousands of years. From the view point of a
Chinese intellectual [1,2], it is merely a small shift in style. To
her/him, this was a long fight between the modernists, who wanted the
official adoption of the Modern style, and the conservatives, who
wanted the Classical style to remain. If both sides were willing to
compromise, the distinctions may not even exist (or would it?).

Typefaces (Zi Ti)

There are two typefaces (Zi Ti) in current use: Traditional (Fan Ti)
and Simplified (Jian Ti). The simplified typeface writes most words
in less strokes, making Chinese writings simpler, hence the name
simplified (Jian). PRC officiated the simplification process in
1950s. Whether written in Traditional or Simplified typeface, there
is no difference in meaning. Chinese-speaking communities using
traditional typeface include Taiwan, Malaysia and various smaller
communities in Asian and Western countries. China Mainland (PRC) and
Singapore use simplified typeface. Hong Kong and Macau publicly use
both traditional and simplified typefaces, although it was
exclusively traditional before the handover to China. Like Classical
and Modern Chinese, traditional and simplified Chinese are known to
co-exist since ancient days [3].

Chinese Buddhist scriptures are usually printed in the traditional
typeface, although the commonly read (chanted) sutras have simplified
versions in China and Singapore. It would therefore be necessary to
read the traditional characters, since the Chinese Agamas is the
least read of the Chinese Tripitaka.

Pronunciation

There are many dialects in use in China. The /standard/ in use is
based on Mandarin (Putonghua, Huayu or Guoyu). All dialects have
words phonetically close to Mandarin, so the statement that Cantonese
(a southern dialect) is closest to Mandarin (a northern dialect) is
just an urban legend. It is always good to start with the correct
pronunciation. Several systems are created to aid in pronunciation.
Two such commonly known systems are Wade-Giles and Hanyu Pinyin
[4,5]. For example, the famous Chinese scholar monk who travelled to
India for Mahayana scriptures during the Tang dynasty (6th century)
is known as Tsuan-Tsang (Wade-Giles, note: it should actually be
Tsuan-Chuang) or Xuanzhuang (Hanyu Pinyin). To me, the Wade-Giles
system is less accurate because the roman letters in used will lead
to a less accurate pronunciation although it may be more useful for
non-Chinese (especially Western) students. Hanyu Pinyin is the
official system used in the schools of China and Singapore. A third
system in use is the Zhuyin Fuhao (or bopomofo) system in Taiwan.

A Note on Language

Since we are on the topic of language, there are more Mandarin
speakers than English speakers in the world, according to data
collected by Ethnologue in 1996 [6]. Also, read interviews with
Professor David Crystal, a renowned scholar of language:
http://www.cambridge.org.br/articles/articles_12.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/arts/ling/stories/s46599.htm

Further Readings

Chinese Language: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_language
Chinese Written Language:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_written_language
Chinese Spoken Language:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_spoken_language
Contemporary History of Chinese Literature:
http://www.twbm.org.tw/window/liter/chlit/ch10/ch10_cont.htm
Additional readings: http://www.pinyin.info/readings/

References:
[1] A Family of Old: Baihua and Wenyan
http://big5.chinabroadcast.cn/gate/big5/gb.chinabroadcast.cn/3601/2004
/09/16/342@...
[2] No Great Difference between Wenyan and Baihua
http://www.booker.com.cn/big5/paper18/43/class001800001/hwz206860.htm
[3] Simplified Chinese of China Mainland
http://www.cantonese.org.cn/ungoo/article/simplified.htm
[4] Pinyin.info: A Guide to the Writing of Mandarin Chinese in
Romanization http://www.pinyin.info
[5] Wikipedia - Wade-Giles http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wade-Giles
[6] Wikipedia - List of Languages by Total Speakers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_total_speakers

* Many of the websites are written in Chinese.