Take a walk down Hollywood Road, and you'll find plenty of antiques. But how do you know if the crumbly-looking horse you've fallen in love with is a fake, or a genuine artifact models for a Han dynasty emperor? How much should you pay for the Neolithic pot that matches your curtains - and what should you do when there's one for half the price on a dodgy looking stall in the Cat Street bazaar that looks kind of similar? What are the best collectors' items - fat ladies, skinny courtiers, curvaceous horses or humpy camels?

Just this month, Victor Choi of antique store Dragon Culture has published a book, Collecting Chinese Antiquities in Hong Kong, which attempts to help beginners on the road from ignorance to informed collecting. Of course, to an extent, the book promotes his own business. But more than that, it offers a host of useful information about how to buy antiquities. The first chapter deals with "Most Often Asked Questions"- The regular "How do I know if it's a fake? and " How can I get the best bargain?" There are also lists of names and details of recommended shipping agents, good books for further reading, and museums of Chinese art all over the world. The second, and by far the larger, section of the book gives a precis of each period of Chinese history, from the Neolithic period to the early 20th century. There's a small amount of text for each period, describing the cultures and features of the antiquities left behind, accompanied by lots and lots of photographs, great for the beginner collector.

Most people in mainland China, Choi says, are not interested in Chinese antiques at present. But they are just starting to show signs of collecting and conserving their heritage and, once they begin to do this in earnest, the prices of Chinese antiques will skyrocket. What's more, Hong Kong's the best place for buying Chinese antiques because it's the only city in China from where you can legally ship antiques aboard. For this reason, it's a veritable hotbed of dealers, collectors and museum curators, as well as tourists looking for a memento of their trip for the sideboard back home. Choi reckons that you can save from three to seven times on prices if you buy here as opposed to buying from a foreign dealer.

Collecting Chinese Antiquities in Hong Kong is not a book for the experienced collector. Its information is geared very much towards the novice, and aims towards a brief and general overview of each period rather then in-depth information. It is, however, a great little book for those of us who know what we like but haven't the first idea what it is and with its emphasis on photographs, provides a pleasurable entrance into the world of Chinese antiques. -Polly Evans