Antiques Shows

We had dinner this evening with a visitor from Beijing who told us about China's version of Antiques Roadshow. It's called Collector's World and, like its American and British counterparts, features on-the-spot appraisals. But Collector's World offers a decided twist. In a country where counterfeiting is a national pastime, the show teaches the lesson that forgeries don't deserve to exist. If an object is deemed to be a fake during the show, the host smashes it to bits with a hammer (if the forgery is a painting, he defaces it with red paint).