what is some good asian classical music?

I think you must mean the sitar. Ravi Shankar has to be a great starting point for any Indian classical music interests.

All the places you mentioned, there's a wealth of music. If you can listen from where you are over the net to the British radio station BBC Radio 3 (google it of course), I couldn't recommend better than check out the programme Late Junction, which plays the music you mentioned and more besides.

he could well mean zither

from wiki

The earliest known instrument of the zither family is a Chinese guqin found in the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng dating from 433 BC, featuring tuning pegs, a bridge and goose-like feet.

Zither

sitar is what i was looking for, but names are beside the point heh.

yay! bb3 late junction woot!!!11

rofl.

its hilarious how a song can lead to wikipedian babylon, chaining off onto revelation, chain off into armageddon.
heh.

ahh Wikipedia. u have so much to read.

damn, I was thinking either diggery-do or kazoo.

There's also the pipa, which is the classical Chinese version of the lute.

Now - in terms of classical, do you mean the music of the 14th/15th/16th century, or something different?

whatever sounds good my friend.

Well, for some odd reason, I've discovered that chinese court music of the 14th/15th century is really quite evocative. But I recognize it's not for everyone.

I'm not a big fan of current Chinese pop music. A bit too adorable for my taste.