And indeed occasionally naïve western museum curators were skunked by them.
However, the original feathered dinosaurs came from Germany, Archaeopteryx:
Funny how it seems 99% of the “feathered dinosaur” fossils that scientists so badly want to find are only found in China, where there is a thriving industry of “fossil hunters” who are known to not be above fakery.
China was one of the few places that when the dino craze hit was isolated so there formations remained intact until recently. Most early dino hunters used dynamite to get at the formations they wanted to look at - thus destroying everything except what survived the explosions.
Chinese fossil hunters are famous for altered fossils. They take fossils and match parts in a way that may use several unrelated fossils put together to seem to be a new species. However the fossils are actual fossils put together in deceptive ways. This does not mean that the fossil field is in any way deceptive. The geology is right for fossils well formed and of great age.
And indeed occasionally naïve western museum curators were skunked by them.
However, the original feathered dinosaurs came from Germany, Archaeopteryx: