Greetings -
This is worth a look - there are photos and sounds - quite out of the ordinary to most western ears!
reggie
Hey, those are cool. Yet more unusual stuff to add to my collections of things I can’t play.
I have heard the pipa played live before. It is really not all that exotic, but I really do love the sound.
I’m glad someone had a look. I’m not sure how i ran across that site, but it’s just another aspect our incredibly shrinking world.
Peace
I think most of these instruments are a little more known than is commonly thought. There are a bunch here that make up a traditional Chinese Symphonic Orchestra.
Here ya go, Steve. Knock yerself out on this baby! 
djm
That is either a whistle rack or a Klingon bong.
Walden needs one of these:
I’m way ahead of ye.
And how do you like the way they play compared to, say, the sweet potato ocarina?
I…umm… I only charted it… I didn’t get the opportunity to actually tootle on one.
Here’s one for a decent price…
I like the Erhu. It’s wonderful to listen to when it’s played well… however it’s sheer torture when played poorly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCnrpReGN9Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpqLr-ACHJk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36zPlp99gJg
Silk strings, cuts, vibrato and slides…
from: http://www.melodyofchina.com/06instruments/luweikang.html
Yikes-a-hootie, as they say in Mandarin.
The lu sheng sounds wonderful.
Dale,
I just had a friend translate this
Reed-pope wind instrument = lusheng
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DrFIAgUcxo
Very metallic sounding…
But… nothing beats a ‘hang’
I have a dizi! Well, I expect I’m not the only person here to have a dizi. Hell, it’s just a flute after all - not as exciting as some of those other things. I wanna Pipa! Anna Ko-ten (or whatever that thing is - I know the Japanese names better).
Lovely link, though! Thank you!