Reviews: TV

Smashing entertainment

TV host Wang Gang delighted in smashing a porcelain vase into pieces in front of astonished viewers of the popular show Collection World (Tianxia Shoucang) last Saturday. The vase, said to be about 300 years old, was the seventh fake antique he destroyed since the show's debut this month.

Each show displays three items for experts and audience to judge their value. If any item is a fake, Wang destroys it on the spot. The veteran actor is a real draw card and a noted collector and plays it up for the cameras. The show airs at 10 pm every Saturday night on BTV Satellite Channel.

Antiques TV shows are popular, however, last week there was genuine shock when the host's assistant drops a 2,500-year-old bronze mirror during a China Central Television show. Late Chinese painter Chen Yifei once offered $1 million for this relic.

While such publicity increases awareness of and investors' interest in Chinese antiques, experts have called for professional care and respect in treating real State-level treasures. LJ

(China Daily 01/24/2007 page20)