Here is what I found out while studying. Our language, like many others, has the verb «играть» (to play). A universal one: you can play games, or the trumpet, or football, or even play a role. English has to play, French has jouer, German has spielen.
It turns out that Chinese, to make things more interesting, has no such word. I mean, the word 玩 (wán), to play, to have fun, of course exists. But it is good only for games: 玩游戏 (wán yóuxì) is to play games, 玩手机 (wán shǒujī) is to play on the phone (or just to zone out in the phone). Video games work too. But not the trumpet.
It turns out that Chinese has many different words for different kinds of playing, and the right word depends on which part of the body you play with :) Well, that is, on the specific action. And everything covered by a single играть/play/jouer/spielen turns into:
— 打 (dǎ): playing with the hands: basketball, volleyball, tennis, cards. Works for video games too.
— 踢 (tī): playing with the feet, for example kicking a football: 踢足球 (tī zúqiú)
— 下 (xià): moving pieces, for example in Chinese chess: 下象棋 (xià xiàngqí)
— 弹 (tán): playing musical instruments, but, surprise, not all of them, only those you pluck or press. The piano, or the guitar.
— 拉 (lā): playing musical instruments with a bow or by stretching: the violin, the accordion.
— 吹 (chuī): and this one is for wind instruments, the saxophone or the flute: 吹笛子 (chuī dízi). In short, where you have to blow.
— 敲 (qiāo): for percussion. By the way, 打 (dǎ) works here too, it is with the hands after all.
— 演 / 扮演 (yǎn / bànyǎn): playing a role. For example, 扮演警察 (bànyǎn jǐngchá) is to play the role of a policeman.
And in case that does not seem enough, there is also 耍 (shuǎ): in some places it means fooling around, and in other regions people simply say it instead of the general 玩 (wán).
What an interesting language, I will keep studying it. By the way, the other day I got to the verb "can", "be able to", and that certainly made studying out loud at home and in public places spicier :)