Real Trouble Over Museum Fakes

A new 6.7 million yuan (US$957,000) museum in Southwest China’s Chongqing University has closed its doors amid accusations that a large portion of their collection was fakes and replicas. Netizen “Jiangshang” first raised suspicions by claiming many of the artifacts were coarsely made and pointed out some historical inaccuracies. For example, the netizen said a turtle statue in the museum’s collection was electroplated. A cultural relics expert who did not reveal his name told news portal The Paper that he could tell some items were fake simply by looking at the photos. Media reports said that most of the museum’s pieces were donations from Wu Yingqi, retired deputy dean of the university’s school of humanities and arts. Wu’s son reportedly operates the museum and runs another two art companies. The museum has since closed and is conducting an investigation.