1. Setup locales
dpkg-reconfigure locales
select
zh_CN GB2312
zh_CN.GBK GBK
zh_CN.UTF-8 UTF-8
The default locale or to vote en_US.UF8
2. Install font
apt-get install ttf-arphic-uming xfonts-intl-chinese xfonts-wqy
3. install debian Chinese input method
apt-get install scim scim-chinese scim-pinyin
Reproduced in: https: //www.cnblogs.com/kungfupanda/archive/2010/11/30/1892167.html