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| Chinese museum closed down over 'fake' exhibits | Chinese museum closed down over 'fake' exhibits |
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| A Chinese museum has been ordered to close after thousands of its historical exhibits were found to be fake, state-run media said on Thursday. | A Chinese museum has been ordered to close after thousands of its historical exhibits were found to be fake, state-run media said on Thursday. |
| Police shut down the Lucheng museum, in the north-eastern province of Liaoning, after finding that almost a third of the 8,000 items on display were not genuine, the Global Times newspaper reported. | Police shut down the Lucheng museum, in the north-eastern province of Liaoning, after finding that almost a third of the 8,000 items on display were not genuine, the Global Times newspaper reported. |
| Counterfeits on show included a sword touted as dating from the Qing Dynasty and worth 120 million yuan (£11m), the report said. | Counterfeits on show included a sword touted as dating from the Qing Dynasty and worth 120 million yuan (£11m), the report said. |
| China is on a museum-building spree, with 299 new establishments registering last year, according to state media. | |
| But fakes are said to be rife in its antiques market, posing a problem for the country's growing ranks of private collectors. | |
| A Chinese tycoon who has two museums is embroiled in a row with experts from the state-backed Shanghai Museum over the authenticity of a scroll he paid more than £5m for at a Sotheby's auction in New York. | A Chinese tycoon who has two museums is embroiled in a row with experts from the state-backed Shanghai Museum over the authenticity of a scroll he paid more than £5m for at a Sotheby's auction in New York. |
| Separately, last year a museum in the central province of Henan was found to contain scores of fake exhibits, including a vase decorated with cartoon characters but described as a Qing dynasty artefact. | Separately, last year a museum in the central province of Henan was found to contain scores of fake exhibits, including a vase decorated with cartoon characters but described as a Qing dynasty artefact. |
| Pictures posted by the state-run China Radio International (CRI) showed the vase decorated with bright green cartoon animals, including a creature resembling a laughing squid. | Pictures posted by the state-run China Radio International (CRI) showed the vase decorated with bright green cartoon animals, including a creature resembling a laughing squid. |
| "Similar fake museums are found in many places in China in search of monetary gain," CRI quoted the Chinese antiques expert Ma Weidu as saying at the time. |