What is Pinyin? And how to read Pinyin?

Pinyin is the process of reading syllables, i.e. to piece together quickly the shengmu and yunmu and make it a syllable by adding the tones according to the structural rules of the syllables in Putonghua. The main points for Pinyin is: "The shengmu should be pronounced lightly and shortly while the yunmu should be pronounced strongly. The shengmu and yunmu shall be joined together suddenly and quickly."

When reading a Pinyin, you should remember the following rules of joining shengmu and yunmu in Putonghua:

Both the shengmu n and the lingshengmu can be joined together with Kaikouhu, Qichihu and Cuokouhu.
The shengmu f, g, k, h, zh, ch, r, z, c and s can only be joined together with Kaikouhu and Hekouhu.
The shengmu j, q and x can only be joined together with Qichihu and Cuokouhu.
The shengmu b, p, m, d and t cannot be joined together with Cuokouhu.
The yunmu of Kaikouhu and Hekouhu can be joined together with all shengmu except for j, q and x.
The yunmu of Cuokouhu can only be joined together with j, q, x, n, l and lingshengmu.
You must also pay attention to the exact pronunciation of the value of shengmu, yunmu and tones. When reading a Pinyin, you must read the "original pronunciation" of the shengmu instead of Huduyin (Huduyin means the pronunciation of shengmu with different vowels added at the end). You should also take the yunmu as a whole. Do not separate the yuntou, yunfu and yunwei before piecing them together. Be sure to see clear the tone marks and pronounce exactly the tone pitch.

There are several common reading methods as follows:

Take the yunmu as a whole and join it together with the shengmu. For example: h-ào→hào.
Make your vocal organ in the exact position of pronouncing the shengmu, then pronounce the yunmu. For example, when reading bā, you should close your lips first and make the vocal organ in the position of pronouncing b; then pronounce a and make them a syllable.
Separate the syllable with an intermediate vowel into three parts, i.e. shengmu, intermediate vowel and yunmu, then read the three parts continuously and make them a syllable. For example, q-i-ánɡ→qiánɡ.
Piece together the shengmu and the intermediate vowel and make them one part of the Pinyin, then join this part together with the following yunmu. For example: ɡu-ānɡ→ɡuānɡ.