China investigates paved Great Wall section

But they have neglected to explain why a more sensitive fix job wasn’t ordered for one of the world’s most famous historical landmark. Now, a centuries-old stretch of the wall looks more like a gray sidewalk than a global treasure.

Besides the aesthetic damage, Ye also said the repaired Great Wall is now not only smooth but also slippery.

He was quoted by the Beijing News as saying the work was completed over three months as part of a government restoration plan. “Many of them are photography fans and students majoring in painting”.

The affected section of the Great Wall lies in Suizhong county, along the border with Hebei province.

Dong Yaohui, vice chairman of the Great Wall Studies Society, called the work “basic and crude”.

The project drew criticism from online users as well as heritage experts.

“This sort of fix work harms the people’s appreciation of the Great Wall’s history and culture, severing a channel of dialogue between the people and cultural heritage”, Dong was quoted as saying by the Beijing News. “Paving the brick-built Great Wall with cement or anything else does more damage than protection”, He Xinyu, a researcher specializing in the protection of the Great Wall at the Ningxia Museum, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Also ironic is that the hullabaloo comes just days after the state-backed China Foundation for Cultural Heritage Conservation launched a crowdfunding campaign to help protect dilapidated sections of the wall, with a goal of raising 11 million renminbi ($1.6 million) by December 1.

Besides the government organizations, some construction teams also lack knowledge about protecting cultural relics, said Wang.

But, apparently, not the favorites of local officials who recently paved over one 700-year-old section in rural and picturesque Liaoning province.

Numerous reports on the restoration lamented its inconsistency, with different materials, including lime, mortar and concrete, used in different places.

The Beijing Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage has invested 367 million yuan since 2000 to restore the Great Wall.

Restorations work on a stretch of the Great Wall of China have upset a lot of people.