Small update.   Been sick for quite awhile.  Maybe getting better.   The spruce/maple qin sounds good.  I'm working on finishing the lacquering of the sides.   Wood is chosen for two more.   opinion: use the best "local" wood you can find.   And not to worry too much about wood as used in China.   It also makes a lot of sense to use woods used in guitars, violin, cello, etc. in the US and Europe assuming you are in the US and Europe.   This all depends on what you can find of course.  Hunting for wood is an art in and of itself.   Possible top materials include:  spruce, western red cedar, redwood, maybe pine.  Possible bottoms might include walnut, maple, mahogany.   I'm not thrilled in general with catalpa as a bottom or as a material for providing resonance.   Easier to find on the east coast of the US anyway but not on the west coast.  I'm going to make a paulownia/maple qin and a cedar/walnut qin for my next outings and try and build my woodcrafting skill set a bit.   Eventually I want to do redwood/mahogany.  One other opinion is while I am hardly against using traditional lacquer - I am not thrilled about hiding beautiful wood and personally intend to use some form of "lacquer" that shows the grain.