CHONGQING University has on Tuesday closed its newly-opened museum for an investigation after a visitor pointed out in an article that a majority of the cultural relics on display in the museum were fake, news website thepaper.cn reported.

A worker from the Chongqing Bureau of Cultural Relics said that the Chongqing University Museum that opened to the public Oct. 7 had not registered at the bureau, which has also launched an investigation, the report said.

On Monday, an article on WeChat questioned Chongqing University spending 6.7 million yuan (US$946,100) on building a museum to display counterfeits, showing photos of fake antiques and authentic ones in contrast.

The writer with the online name Jiangshang who said he visited the museum told thepaper.cn that these counterfeits were made too rough, distorting people’s general knowledge, so experts and common people could easily figure out they weren’t real.

An expert who used to work in a famous museum in China told thepaper.cn Tuesday that judging from the photos, most of these fake antiques have even been fashioned in an absurd manner.

Around Tuesday noon, Chongqing University said on its official Weibo account that it has heeded the online opinions and set up a work group to carry out a careful checkup.

According to the university, there were more than 400 displayed works of Buddha statues, jade, bronze and other designs in the museum at the Huxi campus, showing the development of ancient arts and the charm of traditional culture. 

(China Daily)