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The major part of a full-size replica of the Yuanmingyuan, or the Old Summer Palace, has opened to visitors amid controversy, in east China's Zhejiang Province.

On Sunday morning, thousands of visitors crowded the site in Hengdian Township, some 1,000 kilometers from the real Beijing landmark, to see the "brand-new palace".

When the project was announced in 2008, it courted huge controversy, with many people accusing it of bastardizing a historical site associated with patriotism. Last month, management of the original Old Summer Palace warned legal action if the replica infringed intellectual property rights.

With a total cost of 30 billion yuan, roughly 5 billion U.S. dollars, the replica covers a land area of 400 hectares, and is slated for completion next year.