2003 Harbin Ice and Snow Festival (China)
Gorgeous carvings in ice and snow
http://www.rtoddking.com/chinawin2003_hb_if.htm

Art
Chinese propaganda posters
http://www.iisg.nl/~landsberger/index.html
Chinese woodblocks--a private collection
http://www1.ci.uc.pt/pessoal/maiaa/index.htm
Reproductions of Master paintings, but still very beautiful
http://www.weiyangart.com/sitemap.html

Astrology
Find your sign--and enjoy all the fonts!
http://www.zein.se/patrick/chinen5p.html

Bats
http://www.verbatimmag.com/bats.html - This talks about the language and Fu means bat and also luck depending how it is pronounced or sung.
http://www.chinavoc.com/arts/inside/bat.htm Talks about lazy summer evenings laying back gazing at bats in flight. It has the bat throughout Chinese history.
http://www.chineseparade.com/history/stories/traditions.asp This one has lots of interesting information about the Chinese New Year.

Calligraphy
History and how to
http://www.zein.se/patrick/chinen9p.html

China the Beautiful
Classical Chinese Art, Calligraphy, Poetry, History, Literature, Painting and Philosophy
http://www.chinapage.com/china.html

Chinese Characters
Downloadable
http://formosa-translation.com/chinese/c/cz48.html

Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco
List of Chinese festivals and holidays; explanation of the Chinese zodiac
http://www.c-c-c.org/

Chinese Opera
The basics
http://www.sinica.edu.tw/tit/culture/0895_cu2.html
Meaning of the colors on Chinese Opera masks
http://www.paulnoll.com/China/Opera/China-opera-colors.html

Chinese New Year
Downloadable designs
http://dyn.c-ij.com/english/greetings/browsing.page?lang=en&cat1=hol&cat2=cnewy

Chinese Poems
Classical Chinese Poetry, with audio
http://www.chinapage.org/poetry9.html

Death Beliefs
Chinese Buddhist
http://www.yogichen.org/efiles/mbk16.html

English to Chinese
A somewhat confusing site.
http://www.zhongwen.com

Fables
Over 30 Chinese Tales
http://chineseculture.about.com/library/extra/story/blyrh.htm

Feng Shui
Copyright-free variations on the "good luck" character
http://www.fengshuiprophet.com/gallery/index.php

Festivals and Holidays
List of Chinese festivals and holidays
http://www.chinavoc.com/festivals/index.asp

The Forbidden City, The Summer Palace, and Ming Tombs:
http://www.stuebegreen.com/wonderland/photos/fc/pix0.html

Funeral Customs
Ceremony for a Dowager Princess
http://www.romanization.com/books/courtlifeinchina/chap18.html
Some general comments about the funeral process in China
http://www.newsfinder.org/index.php?id=P134

Joss Papers
There is no vendor affiliation here, just a search for meaning.
http://www.fsdi.com/htm/cups.htm
http://www.stampington.com/html/treasures_from_chinatown.html

Knots
A nice site with basic knots and suggestions for more complex ones. Good list of books to get, too.
http://www.chineseknotting.org/

Literature
An AMAZING site with the texts in Chinese (and each character is translated if you hold your mouse over it!) and English.
http://afpc.asso.fr/wengu/wg/wengu.php
A compilation of many different sites with Chinese literature.
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Literature/World_Literature/Chinese/Classic/

Origami Patterns
Downloadable and printable patterns for the paper, as well as folding patterns (look for more folding patterns on the Techniques page)
http://cp.c-ij.com/english/3D-papercraft/origami/junishi_e.html

Papercutting
Site detailing the history and technique of papercutting. Offers a huge collection of papercuts to admire.
http://membres.lycos.fr/nguyenvanvalerie/English/Accueilx.html
Very intricate modern examples (and slow-loading)
http://www.qingyunge.com/qygnews/english/jianzhi/gg.htm

Peranakan Culture
Baba culture is truly a unique creation of Southeast Asia. It is the culture of an old immigrant Chinese community that settled in what was known as the Straits Settlements: Malacca, Penang and Singapore. The community can trace its presence in Malacca to at least the 17th century. Here are some general cultural sites:
http://www.peranakan.org.sg/Culture/culturehome.html
http://www.freewebs.com/peranakanweb/
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/encyclopedia/p/pe/peranakan.htm

Proverbs
Several pages of proverbs in English.
http://www.thinkexist.com/English/Author/x/Author_2543_1.htm
More
http://www.chinapage.com/quote/quote.html

Zodiac
How to draw the various characters.
http://www.ocrat.com/chargif/zodiac.html
Postage stamps
http://www.clarencelee.com/stamps.htm
Roosters
http://www.poultryclub.org/Stamps.htm
The legend behind the Zodiac animals: The Great Race
http://www.thingsasian.com/goto_article/article.2137.html

Asia Society
Dedicated to fostering understanding of Asia and communication between Americans and the peoples of Asia and the Pacific. Provides a forum for building awareness of the more than thirty countries broadly defined as the Asia-Pacific region - the area from Japan to Iran, and from Central Asia to New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific Islands.
http://www.asiasociety.org/

Ask Asia
A K-12 resource of the Asia Society (one section in particular has some very nice drawings)
http://www.askasia.org/

What is "Asia"?
A list compiled from Google
What is Asia?

Asian Costumes
An incredible gallery of Asian women portraits in native costume
http://www.tendreams.org/costumes2.htm

Buddhist Symbols
Good explanations
http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/history/symbols.htm

Dragonflies in Asian Art
Interesting tidbits
http://cassfos02.ucsd.edu/personal/ron/

Dragons
Find out how many toes Chinese vs. Japanese dragons have, and other juicy information:
http://www.asianideas.com/desofdrag.html
http://www.crystalinks.com/chinadragons.html

General
A bunch of links at Artneko
http://www.artneko.com/links.php

General Artwork Samples
Contemporary artists from many Asian countries
http://www.asianfineart.com/japanese_artwork.htm

Proverbs
A list of links to proverbs from all across Asia
http://dmoz.org/Society/Folklore/Literature/Proverbs_and_Sayings/Asian/

Ando Hiroshige Woodblock Prints
Links to gorgeous reproductions of these scenic, and sometimes amusing, woodblock prints
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~johnxyz/index.html

Art
A collection for sale
http://www.artelino.com/default.asp

Chigiri-e Painting
Imperial Robes - history, folklore
http://www.washi-shiori.com/ChigirieEng.html

Dolls
Impressive explanation of traditional doll crafting in Japan
http://www.nihon-kogeikai.com/TEBIKI-E/6.html

Pictures of antiques
http://www.akanezumiya.com/gal_ningyo.htm and
http://www.akanezumiya.com/artinfocus.htm

Dragon Robes
Paper painting (collage)
http://www.sdmart.org/dragonrobes/contents.html

Eastwind Art
Japanese fabrics, patterns and books--shows how some of the clothing is made
http://www.eastwindart.com/

Fabrics
A large collection of fabric designs
http://www.intfab.com/fabjapsc.html, http://www.orientalfabric.com/

Funeral Customs
A very informative article on Buddhist customs
http://tanutech.com/japan/jfunerals.html

Geishas
A very informative site on all aspects of geisha culture
http://www.immortalgeisha.com

Copyright-free antique colored reproductions of geisha photos
http://www.art-e-zine.co.uk/vie4jap.html

Glossary of Japanese Art Terms
http://www.michionline.org/resources/Glossary/

Haiku of Kobayashi Issa
Large collection of his haiku
http://webusers.xula.edu/dlanoue/issa/index.html

Japan 101
A large collection of photography of modern-day Japan, including cities, festivals, and sports. Also has a couple of galleries of historical photographs, and of historic illustrations and line art (!).
http://www.japan-101.com/gallery/

Japanese color combinations
Primarily for fabric, but is interesting
http://www.color-guide.com/e_kasane.htm

Japanese clip-art
I believe these to be copy-right free, but it's your responsibility to check and make sure!
http://www.countryfriends.org/KWClipArtAug.html
http://park19.wakwak.com/~kaleido/index-e2.html

Japanese Holidays
Short descriptions and dates for traditional and modern holidays
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~tc9w-ball/useful/holiday2005.htm and
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~tc9w-ball/useful/holidaymore.htm#AnimalYear

Japanese Matches
Library of matchbook covers
http://server18.joeswebhosting.net/~xx9185/english/index.html

Japanese Proverbs
Several pages of proverbs in English.
http://www.thinkexist.com/English/Author/x/Author_3240_1.htm

Japanese Words & Phrases
Yuki's page: several pages on 1st grade writing (kanji, hirigana, etc.), with translations and writing of many common phrases/words in Japanese.
http://www2.tokai.or.jp/yuki/japanese_words_and_phrases.htm

Ka-Mon (Japanese Crests)
An interesting, brief history and a comparison with European crests.
http://www.japan-society.org/crest_jssdt.html
http://www.familyemblem.com/index.html
http://www.netpersons.co.jp/kamon/10.html (site explaining the meaning or origins of the various mon)

Kanji
All about Japanese kanji
http://www.kanjisite.com/index.html

Kimono
OSA Spectrum September 2006 e-zine
Beautiful renditions of modern kimono
http://www.theblackmoon.com/Kimono/kimono.html
Resource on periods and different types of kimono
http://www.bookmice.net/darkchilde/japan/jkimono.html
Beautiful modern sculpture with interesting materials in the shape of kimono
http://www.okadadesign.com/kimono.html
Interesting, thorough article which includes social stations as they relate to kimono, and talks about men's kimono
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimono
Short article about a kimono gallery viewing, with tips on how to "interpret" the designs
http://www.coloradoan.com/

Oshi-e (Puffy 3-D Craft)
An overview, then a private gallery
http://www.saiga-jp.com/gift/handicrafts/about_oshie.html
http://moonwaltz.fc2web.com/oshie/oshie-en.htm

Lucky Cat (Maneki Neko)
Wonderful overview of ancient to modern lucky cats and the legends behind them.
http://www.akanezumiya.com/publications/mag1.htm

Maps
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~HW3T-TKD/usgs/jpn_k/jpn0a1.jpg (topographical map)
http://geography.about.com/library/blank/blxjapan.htm (blank outline map)
http://www.abcteach.com/japan/map1.htm (and another)

Mizuhiki
History, How To's, and cultural associations
http://www.026.co.jp/mizuhiki/englishindex.html

Noh Masks & Theater
An incredibly informative site rich in photos.
http://www.nohmask21.com/eu/mlist.html
Good basic site on the main components and terminology of Noh theater
http://www.iijnet.or.jp/NOH-KYOGEN/english/english.html

Outdoor Japan
Beautiful color photographs from different photographers.
http://www.outdoorjapan.com/section-gallery.html

Paper
Interesting video on papermaking
http://www.paper-source.com/cgi-bin/paper/video/japanese_paper.html

Poetry and Ukiyo-e
Terminology of classical and pre-modern poetry as it relates to ukiyo-e.
http://optometry.berkeley.edu/ (link shortened)

Rubber Stamps (at various locations in Japan)
A fascinating collection of rubber stamp images that exist at historical locations in Japan.
http://www.dotpattern.com/artwerk/rubber-stamps/japan-rubber-stamps.html

Samurai
Large site covering history, crests (mon), Emperors, famous women, and more.
http://www.samurai-archives.com/index.html

Season Words
A brief discussion of the many words used for seasons in Japan.
http://www.st.rim.or.jp/~beck/kametaro/more-season.html and
http://www.st.rim.or.jp/~beck/kametaro/seasonwords.html

Seldom Asked Questions
A fascinating collection of disparate facts
http://www3.tky.3web.ne.jp/~edjacob/saq.html

Senryu
A Japanese poem structurally similar to the haiku but primarily concerned with human nature. It is usually humorous or satiric. Used loosely, the term means a poem similar to the haiku that does not meet the criteria for haiku.

http://simplysenryu.blogspot.com/
http://raysweb.net/senryu/links.html
http://members.tripod.com/~Startag/HkSenDiff.html
http://members.optushome.com.au/kazoom/poetry/senryu.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senryu
http://www.poetrylives.com/SimplyHaiku/SHpages/introduction_senryu.html
http://linuxgazette.net/118/senryu.html
http://www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/haiku/haiku.html
http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/ethicalesq/2004/07/23
http://www.geocities.com/vgendrano/index.html
http://www.edhelper.com/ReadingComprehension_27_82.html
http://www.ozyandmillie.org/2005/om20050124.html
http://www.worldhaikureview.org/5-1/whcs/study_ugachi1.htm
http://qazse.wordpress.com/tag/haiku-and-senryu/
http://www.modernhaiku.org/issue37-2/haiku37-2.html
http://www.journalhome.com/SilverWind/27557/
http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/ethicalesq/is-it-or-aint-it-haiku/
http://wordpress.com/tag/haiku-and-senryu/

Takase Studios
A nice sample of old haiku
http://www.takase.com/Haiku/Haiku.htm

Traditional Crafts
Several articles on such subjects as mizuhiki, paper lanterns, and paper umbrellas.
http://shofu.pref.ishikawa.jp/shofu/jouka/english/1000.html

Magnificent "handbook" on traditional crafts
http://www.nihon-kogeikai.com/TEBIKI-E.html

Traditions and Culture
Several articles on such subjects as architecture, tea ceremony, calligraphy,
Ukiyo-e, etc.
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/illustrated/index.html

Tsuba (Japanese sword hand guards)
Beautiful site with great pictures of ornate hand guards
http://home.earthlink.net/~jggilbert/tsuba.htm

Ukiyo-E Gallery
Library of ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world") prints and related information
http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/ukiyoe/ukiyoe.html

Ukiyo-E Gallery
Another one
http://www.bahnhof.se/~secutor/ukiyo-e/

Washi and Other Papers
A short explanation by Jane Smith in San Diego with additional resources
http://www.orientalstampart.com/washi.html