Cloudy in Beijing Blogging about my time in China

Fake warlord

China has a lot of fake products circulating around. Fake DVDs are the most common. Then there are the fake watches, the fake iPods, the fake Prada bags, and the plenty of other cheap imitation goods one can find in the markets here. A friend even told me his mom once bought a fake sea cucumber in China. (It turned out to be made out of cardboard).

But sometimes these knock-offs can rile the public. A year ago, China had a problem with what was essentially "fake milk." (800 infants were hospitalized). Before that, there was another big scandal with fake tiger photos. A farmer had fabricated them in the hope that people would believe the South China Tiger still existed in the wild.

So it's not always easy to tell what is real and what isn't in China; now I'm always a little afraid I might be poisoning myself when I drink milk here.

In my experiences, many of the people in China are just as cautious. But their suspicions don't just extend to the products they're buying.

Back in December the media reported that archaeologists had discovered the ancient tomb of Cao Cao, a Chinese warlord made famous by the historical epic Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

In my own freelancing I had interviewed one of the archaeologists, who was convinced they had found the legendary figure's final resting place. I wrote the article, thinking that was that.

If it was a lesser-known warlord this might have been true. But Cao Cao is a major cultural figure in China. The ancient ruler, though dead for 1,800 years,  has become a legend, being featured in movies, televisions shows, plays, and even video games. News of the discovery was thus a major headline. And as more people read about it, very quickly suspicions were raised.

Immediately, there were experts and netizens wondering if the artifacts archaeologists were fakes. Their reasoning was that the tomb had been tainted by looters, who had first discovered the site, and may have planted fabrications inside. (One of the discovered artifacts is pictured above.) Other netizens and news articles suggested that government officials were motivated to make the discovery simply to turn it into a tourist attraction and raise money for the province.

Soon there was a flood of doubt within the public to disbelieve the discovery, even as archaeologists have tried to make their case. Now An online poll shows that 60 percent of the people surveyed don't believe the tomb is real. A few friends of mine don't believe it's genuine either.

I'm sure the archaeologists would have saved themselves quite a bit of trouble if they had just said they had "possibly" discovered Cao Cao's tomb, rather than with full affirmation. It was only after the controversy exploded that China's archaeology department was forced to back peddle and say they hadn't made a final conclusion on the discovery yet.

The story is still ongoing; a university in Shanghai has offered to do a DNA test on a corpse found in the tomb, which is believed to be Cao Cao's body. But regardless, the credibility of China's archaeology field has taken a major hit from this. The next time a big discovery comes along, I'm sure the archaeologists involved will be more careful, if not hesitant, to announce it.

I think it's good for a public to question the authority. (This is what journalism is all about after all.)  But the level of disbelief in China is surprising.  I can't quite imagine this ever happening in America, or at least becoming such a big topic. At the same time I've never heard of a fake archaeological discovery before. Yet China does have a history of fakes. Thus it's easy for caution, doubt and a great deal of cynicism to foment among the people here.

But this is also a country where information is filtered and censored. It may not be fake, but the information can make you wonder what you are reading is genuine and not missing something. That very fact makes news here feel untrustworthy, even if it may be 100 percent true. (Thankfully, foreign media outlets are not blocked on the Internet here.)

What it'll take for China to gain that sort of credibility in the future I don't know. Still, I like a lot of the fake stuff China has to offer; I recently bought some bootleg computer games for less than 25 cents. (I'm worried they might be loaded with viruses though.) But as for the possibility of a fake warlord tomb, let's hope it doesn't get to that level.