The old and the beautiful

In the chaos of the 1960s, Ma Weidu often wondered when he saw people smashing porcelain, tearing paintings and dismantling old constructions. He was just a child and too young to understand what was going on.

The 53-year-old now has his own museum filled with antiques. He has been collecting antiques for almost three decades now and recently became a household name after his lectures on antiques and traditional culture on national broadcaster, CCTV.

"I have been witness to the boom in Chinese antiques. Beijing's two most crowded places before sunrise everyday are Tian'anmen Square, where tourists crane their necks to watch the national flag-hoisting ceremony, and Panjiayuan, where people hunt for treasures with bent heads."