Beijing News
The Great Wall stretches from Hebei province in the east to Gansu province to the west, and stretches over 220,000 kilometers. This photo shows a section of the wall near the border of Liaoning and Hebei province that was repaired in 2014. Great Wall of China Society deputy director Dong Yaohui said the repair was done "very badly"
Shutterstock
Tulou structures have existed for over 2,000 years. They were built by Hakka people. 46 Tulou structures, located in Fujian, are UNESCO world heritage sites.
Shutterstock
The Cheng Kan Village is a historic village located in Anhui, a province in southern China. The village was built during the Ming Dynasty. This is one of the best examples of how villages and cities were planned. This one follows an eight diagram layout -- a Taoist concept embodying yin and yang.
Shutterstock
The Dazu District is located in Chongqing. The Dazu Rock Carvings, which date back to the 9th century, are designated as a UNESCO heritage site. The artwork shows a fusion of Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian beliefs.
Katie Hunt/CNN
One of the minorities that is known to reside in the Guizhou area is the Dong ethnic group. Many Dong women in the village prefer to wear traditional dress, pictured above.
China Photos/Getty Images AsiaPac/Getty Images
Pingyao, located in Shanxi province, is a traditional Han Chinese city that was established in the 14th century. It was considered to be the financial center of China from the 19th to early 20th century.
Shutterstock
The Lion Grove Garden, located in Suzhou, was first built during the Yuan Dynasty in 1342. The garden was once home to the famed Chinese-American architect, I.M. Pei, and was repurchased by the family in the 1980s. Pei cites the Lion Grove Garden as a prominent influence in his work.
PETER PARKS/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
The Mogao Grottoes are located in the Gansu province in northwest China. The site was first constructed in 166 AD features Buddhist art from the 4th to 14th century.
PETER PARKS/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
The Mogao Grottoes is hailed for its architecture, but also features caves, wall paintings, sculptures and cultural relics. Conservation plans for the Mogao Grottoes is currently in the works to fight against deterioration factors, such as increased tourism and climate change.
Shutterstock
The Purple Cloud Temple is located in the Wudang Mountains, a Taoist temple in Hubei province. Buildings here date back to the 7th century.
Shutterstock
The Longmen Grottoes are located in Hunan province. The grottoes contain a large collection of Chinese art from the Northern Wei and Tang Dynasties and are all devoted to Buddhism. The Longmen Grottoes are currently protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Shutterstock
Beijing's Summer Palace was first built in 1750. Although it was significantly destroyed in 1860, as a result of the Opium War and the Boxer Rebellion in 1900, it has since been restored and open to the public since 1924.
Katie Hunt/CNN
Guizhou, located in southwest China, is home to several villages housing ethnic minorities in China. The Dali Dong village in Guizhou, will be one of the pilot project sites for the Global Heritage Fund. The Global Heritage Fund is trying to help preserve the architecture and culture of Guizhou's minority villages.
FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
The Great Wall was initially build as a military defense system against invasions from the north. Construction of the wall began in the 3rd century BC to the 17th century AD.
Guang Niu/Getty Images AsiaPac/Getty Images
The Ming Tombs are located just outside of Beijing, and currently serve as the burial ground for 13 emperors. The Ming Tomb complex is over 15 square miles wide.
STR/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
The layout of the tombs have been chosen due to their auspicious locations, and are laid out according to Chinese hierarchical rules, as well as to accommodate for the spirits of the dead.
STEPHEN SHAVER/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
The Forbidden City served as home for the Chinese government, for over five centuries. It was the residence to emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties from the 15th to 20th century.

Story highlights

Cement repair widely denounced online by angry netizens

Expert said the repairs had taken away "history"

CNN  — 

It’s the repair job that’s so ugly you can probably see it from space.

A 700-year-old “wild” stretch of China’s Great Wall has been covered in a smooth, white trail of cement under orders from Suizhong county’s Cultural Relics Bureau, Sina reported on Wednesday.

The repairs were carried out in 2014, but they only came to public attention recently.

00:40 - Source: CNN
China covers portions of Great Wall with cement

It was an effort to restore parts of the wall which have fallen into disrepair and are not open to the public, but the restoration has been met with condemnation by social media users and advocates.

The repair work took place near the border of Liaoning and Hebei province and photos of the results were widely shared by Beijing News on Weibo this week.

CNN has reached out to the local Heritage Conservation Bureau for comment.

Read more: Crowdfunding launched to preserve Great Wall

Restoration ‘took away history’

Chinese internet users have slammed the repair job, with the Weibo hashtag “The most beautiful, wild Great Wall flattened” trending online.

“Glad Venus de Milo is not in China, or someone would get her a new arm,” one user said.

Beijing News
A photo from before China's Great Wall was cemented.

Great Wall of China Society deputy director Dong Yaohui said the restoration work had been done “very badly”. “It damaged the original look of the Great Wall and took away the history from the people.”

Dong said it was important for the Chinese government as a whole to regulate and streamline Great Wall restoration efforts.

RELATED: Why China’s super wealthy don’t want western-looking homes anymore

“Although the local government was well intentioned and wanted to restore the bricks of the Wall, the result turned out to be the opposite.”

Since 2006, the Great Wall Protection Ordinance in China introduced strict rules for the development of tourist destinations.