Outrage on social media over restoration of Great Wall of China, turning it into a smooth path - Polidicks

[IMG]http://www.straitstimes.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_pictrure_780x520_/public/articles/2016/09/23/gal02.jpg?itok=E6oxfG6f[/IMG] [IMG]http://www.straitstimes.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_pictrure_780x520_/public/articles/2016/09/23/gal03.jpg?itok=o7lrCIlg[/IMG] [IMG]http://www.straitstimes.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_pictrure_780x520_/public/articles/2016/09/23/gal04.jpg?itok=G1oppFNi[/IMG] [QUOTE]BEIJING (AFP) - Chinese social media users were in an uproar on Friday (Sept 23) over restoration of a 700-year-old section of the Great Wall that has been covered in concrete, turning it into a smooth, flat-topped path.Known as one of the most beautiful portions of the "wild", unrestored wall, the 8km Xiaohekou stretch in north-east Liaoning province was built in 1381 during the Ming Dynasty. Photos posted online showed that its uneven, crumbling steps and plant growth had been replaced as far as the eye could see with a white, concrete-like cap. "This looks like the work of a group of people who didn't even graduate from elementary school," said one user of China's Twitter-like Weibo platform. "If this is the result, you might as well have just blown it up." Another user asked: "Such brutal treatment of the monuments left behind by our ancestors! How is it that people with low levels of cultural awareness can take on leadership positions? Why don't we just raze the Forbidden City in Beijing, too?" Even the deputy director of Liaoning's department of culture Ding Hui admitted: "The repairs really are quite ugly," according to state broadcaster CCTV. The Great Wall is not a single unbroken structure but stretches for thousands of kilometres in sections from China's east coast to the edge of the Gobi desert. It is so dilapidated that estimates of its total length vary from 9,000km to 21,000km, depending on whether missing sections are included. Despite its length, the wall is not, as is sometimes claimed, visible from space. Emergency maintenance was ordered for Xiaohekou in 2012 to "avoid further damage and dissolution" caused by "serious structural problems and issues due to flooding" and was completed in 2014, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage said in a statement on its website in response to public and media outcry. [/QUOTE] [url]http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/outrage-on-social-media-over-restoration-of-great-wall-of-china?utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&xtor=CS1-10#link_time=1474614230[/url] How do you fuck it up so badly Reminds of the Jesus painting

I don't really understand. What's the problem with having it smoothed out? What should it have looked like instead? Should it have not been repaired at all? I genuinely don't understand. Not taking sides, just looking for a better insight.

Kinda feels like a very Chinese thing to do. Cover it with concrete, quick and "effective"

[QUOTE=Anti Christ;51098053]I don't really understand. What's the problem with having it smoothed out? What should it have looked like instead? Should it have not been repaired at all? I genuinely don't understand. Not taking sides, just looking for a better insight.[/QUOTE] [t]http://images.wisegeek.com/great-wall-of-china-with-clouds.jpg[/t] this is what it should have been restored to not this crap

They literally poured concrete over it instead of taking the time to fix up holes, put in new stones, etc to make it look like it did before

[QUOTE=Zonesylvania;51098057][t]http://images.wisegeek.com/great-wall-of-china-with-clouds.jpg[/t] this is what it should have been restored to not this crap[/QUOTE] Okay yeah, that's definitely a fuck up then. Thanks my dude

-snippo lighter-

[QUOTE=Anti Christ;51098053]I don't really understand. What's the problem with having it smoothed out? What should it have looked like instead? Should it have not been repaired at all? I genuinely don't understand. Not taking sides, just looking for a better insight.[/QUOTE] Old buildings are art. Imagine turning the Washington Monument into a square, or an orb. Imagine turning Lady Liberty into a stick figure. Sure, you can understand the idea of what was there but it doesn't compare. Moreso you've ruined a historical monument.

the not-so-great wall of china

looks like it belongs in the longest waterpark slide now

Now I hope someone host a longboard or bmx bike trail there

That does not look so ancient chinese achievement anymore, it looks like shitty construct now.

I would hope they plan on carving it out as time goes by, but knowing them this is what it is.

I feel so sorry for the chinese culture now...

[QUOTE=Zonesylvania;51098057][t]http://images.wisegeek.com/great-wall-of-china-with-clouds.jpg[/t] this is what it should have been restored to not this crap[/QUOTE] To be fair, the section of the wall they paved over looked more like this [img]http://www.tour-beijing.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/We-continue-to-trudge-up-on-a-treacherous-wall-ridge-up-to-the-second-watch-tower..jpg[/img] It would be slightly inaccurate to restore it to something it probably never was

I am planning a round trip to Beijing, bullet train to Xian and then flying to Hong Kong and home for next year. Hope they don't cover too much of it before then. Don't they have a Health and safety executive there as this looks like a H&S nightmare especially with no handrails.

I wonder what Karl would think [url]https://youtu.be/XJyf_fjnC_U?t=213[/url]

[QUOTE=Zonesylvania;51098057][t]http://images.wisegeek.com/great-wall-of-china-with-clouds.jpg[/t] this is what it should have been restored to not this crap[/QUOTE] That is like saying a 100 year old wooden barn should be restored to look like a mansion. Like the guy above said, not every part of the wall looks like that, much of it is more or less just a thick dry rock wall. Still, this is probably the ugliest solution they could think of.

[QUOTE=kaze4159;51098164]To be fair, the section of the wall they paved over looked more like this [img]http://www.tour-beijing.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/We-continue-to-trudge-up-on-a-treacherous-wall-ridge-up-to-the-second-watch-tower..jpg[/img] It would be slightly inaccurate to restore it to something it probably never was[/QUOTE] Meh, they could paint the repaired sections in brown or something and it would probably be fine, maybe style it like the rest of the wall with some similar looking bricks. [t]http://www.straitstimes.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_pictrure_780x520_/public/articles/2016/09/23/gal04.jpg?itok=G1oppFNi[/t]

TBH the restoration is probably more accurate to the original portion of the wall considering it was a portion designed exclusively to be a wall and not as an architectural and artistic feat. For the many miles of beauty, there were many more that were rushed out as basic as possible for the sole purpose of protection, and not designed to be beautiful. Not the best job, and concrete is far from period accurate, but all things considered, people would probably be wildly impressed if it looked like that at construction.

[QUOTE=Loriborn;51098278]TBH the restoration is probably more accurate to the original portion of the wall considering it was a portion designed exclusively to be a wall and not as an architectural and artistic feat. For the many miles of beauty, there were many more that were rushed out as basic as possible for the sole purpose of protection, and not designed to be beautiful. Not the best job, and concrete is far from period accurate, but all things considered, people would probably be wildly impressed if it looked like that at construction.[/QUOTE] To my knowledge the ancient Chinese didnt build the great wall with concrete considering they didnt even have concrete at the time.

Welp, I guess now we wait for the new concrete to decay.

[QUOTE=Anti Christ;51098053]I don't really understand. What's the problem with having it smoothed out? What should it have looked like instead? Should it have not been repaired at all? I genuinely don't understand. Not taking sides, just looking for a better insight.[/QUOTE] Here, let me just restore the Statue of Liberty. [img]http://i.imgur.com/2Z6KEnf.png[/img]

[QUOTE=Kyle902;51098312]To my knowledge the ancient Chinese didnt build the great wall with concrete considering they didnt even have concrete at the time.[/QUOTE] Yes thats what he said

I'm sure if the chinese wanted the wall restored proper they would have done it the old fashioned way: With hundreds of underpaid workers that aren't cared for and if they die they just bury them in the wall.

[QUOTE=kaze4159;51098164]To be fair, the section of the wall they paved over looked more like this [img]http://www.tour-beijing.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/We-continue-to-trudge-up-on-a-treacherous-wall-ridge-up-to-the-second-watch-tower..jpg[/img] It would be slightly inaccurate to restore it to something it probably never was[/QUOTE] if thats the case then i dont really see an issue and like another poster pointed out, the great wall wasn't supposed to be about art or architecture, it was a defence strategy with most being erected really fast to serve its purpose

[QUOTE=fruxodaily;51098571]if thats the case then i dont really see an issue and like another poster pointed out, the great wall wasn't supposed to be about art or architecture, it was a defence strategy with most being erected really fast to serve its purpose[/QUOTE] It has long since outlived that purpose and is now a piece of historical architecture, and should thus be preserved in its original state as much as possible.

[QUOTE=Anti Christ;51098053]I don't really understand. What's the problem with having it smoothed out? What should it have looked like instead? Should it have not been repaired at all? I genuinely don't understand. Not taking sides, just looking for a better insight.[/QUOTE] do you not know what the top of a wall should look like?

No no no no no, this is actually huge to us Chinese people. It's not just "eh they put concrete over the great wall who cares lmao": That bit of the Great Wall was what we call “野長城”, or the "wild great wall" - they're mostly Ming-era (or even Qin-era) great wall chunks that are not maintained because they go into the countryside. The great wall section in question was described as one of the most beautiful "wild great wall"s in Liaoning for its specially forged mud bricks with murals, and people are blowing up over it because the concrete ruined the beauty of it - what was special was that it was broken so people could see the most original form of the Great Wall. Original: [IMG]https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/peopledaily-great-wall-2.jpg?w=1600[/IMG] The restoration guys really fucked up big time [editline]24th September 2016[/editline]

[QUOTE=fruxodaily;51098571]if thats the case then i dont really see an issue and like another poster pointed out, the great wall wasn't supposed to be about art or architecture, it was a defence strategy with most being erected really fast to serve its purpose[/QUOTE] By your logic we should be destroying all historical landmarks that have outlived their purpose. I'm glad you aren't in any sort of position of power, you'd destroy entire cultures.