With more Chinese taking to collecting antiques, and official relics experts serving mainly museums, television is stepping in to fill the gap. Zhang Zixuan reports

The host's hammer comes down on a 150-year-old coral-red glazed chrysanthemum-petal dish, smashing it to pieces. Li Yufei, who has brought the dish to the TV show, lets out a sharp cry and raises her hand to her mouth. The dish is a fake.

This a scene from Tian Xia Shou Cang (world collection), a popular program on Beijing TV, which brings in experts to assess antiques in the hands of collectors around the country. In the spirit of a popular Chinese saying, "Eliminate the false and retain the true", the show's host destroys the ones judged to be fake, while giving a reference price and certificate to the genuine antiques.

"I was so surprised when the host broke the dish," Li says, adding that she and her friend had the dish appraised before participating in the TV program. They were quite confident it would be ascertained as genuine.

An ardent collector of antiques, Li has her own store, and is not upset about the TV appraisal. "The expert's comment was quite convincing. I gained some knowledge," she says.

As an old Chinese saying proves - "Store gold during chaotic times; collect treasures in a prosperous age" - antique collection has a long tradition in this country.

Data from the State Administration of Cultural Heritage shows China had more than 70 million antique collectors in 2005. This number stood at 90 million by 2009, with interest in antiques rising steadily, fueled by the mass media.

Since 2001, when the first TV program dealing with antiques, Artwork Investment, aired on CCTV-2, programs offering appraisals for antiques have boomed, with more than 50 such programs on air at one time.

Despite different formats, all of them have a segment introducing the history behind the piece being appraised and the comments given by experts.

CCTV-2's top-rated weekly program is Xun Bao (treasure hunt), and is aimed at finding folk treasures in different parts of the country.

"A total of 400 million people watched our program last year," says Zhao Xia, producer of Xun Bao. "Now we have 27 million watching each episode."

However, the appearance of rare treasures on the program, and the staggering prices that are quoted for them, has triggered some controversy.

"Such TV programs have, in a way, contributed to the overheated market and increasing forgeries," says Wang Youhua, a 66-year-old collector.

An Jiayao, 63, researcher with the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believes such programs have seriously misled the audience.

"They aggravate the problem of tomb robbery, and make antique collection more money-oriented."

But Jin Yunchang, 53, associate researcher of the Palace Museum, disagrees.

"We all know gold is valuable, but not everyone robs a bank to get it ."

Jin believes such programs have a positive influence on relics protection. "One hardly hears of relics being destroyed, nowadays."

Jiang Ailin, 56, who has been part of the live audience on Tian Xia Shou Cang several times, also approves of such programs. "I've learned so much about appraising antiques from them."

Jin, who sits on the experts panel on Xun Bao, also questions the qualifications of the so-called experts.

"Antique appraisal often involves a subjective judgment and this makes it difficult to regulate by law," he says. The qualifications of these so-called experts are also suspect as some of them are just antique dealers who have been in this business for a long time.

Jin also criticizes the fact that the official relics appraisal departments do not serve private collectors but only government-owned museums. This has resulted in the current chaos in antique appraisal.

Responding to these criticism Niu Zhenqing, the producer of Tian Xia Shou Cang says: "Our program (fills in this gap and) meets the needs of collectors." Since the program was launched in January 2007, many people have brought in their collections to be appraised by the experts, after every episode."

Producer Zhao of Xun Bao says these programs help preserve the nation's cultural diversity. "Antiques and the cultural heritage they embody offer a unique look at the history of a place," she says.

Her program now covers more than 60 cities and counties, presenting local treasures to a national audience.

Jin, the Palace Museum researcher, says it is the popular enthusiasm for collection that keeps these TV programs going.

"It is human nature to cherish the culture of one's ancestors, " he says, but is quick to add that, "Only when people pay equal attention to antique collection and to producing new treasures, as during the Song (960-1279) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, can one talk of a certain age truly being a prosperous one."