Chinese Museum Shut Down Over Thousands Of Fake Items
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"Beijing (AFP) - 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 northeastern 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 ($19 million), the report said.
China is on a museum building spree, with 299 new establishments registering last year, according to state media.
But its antiques market is said to be rife with fakes, posing a problem for the country's growing ranks of private collectors."