Seven new wonders but only one Great Wall

Great Wall

　　The Great Wall is at the top of the "New Seven Wonders of the World" list.

　　China's more than 5,000-km-long engineering and architectural marvel is followed by the pink-colored ruins of Petra in Jordan, the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru, the Mayan city of Chichen Itza in Mexico, the Coliseum in Rome, and the Taj Mahal in India.

　　A private Swiss foundation launched a worldwide poll in January to choose the new top seven wonders from 21 sites. A jury short-listed the 21 from the original 77 selected by the foundation. Nearly 100 million votes were cast before the results were declared in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon on Saturday night.

　　The top contenders that lost out are the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, the Stonehenge in Britain, Angkor Vat in Cambodia, the statues on Easter Island and the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

　　The private campaign was the brainchild of Swiss filmmaker and museum curator Bernard Weber, who said his initiative seeks to recreate the popularity of the Seven Wonders of the World.

　　Only one of the original seven wonders, the Pyramids of Egypt, can still be seen. The others, including the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes and the Lighthouse of Alexandria were all stories.

　　"The real cultural and historical value of a world heritage site should not be determined by online voting but by what they mean to human beings," said a netizen on popular portal www.sina.com.cn.

　　China Great Wall Society's Deputy Secretary Zhang Ji welcomed the results. The Great Wall's name on the list could help preservation efforts, he said.

　　Han Guowei, a society official, addressed the gathering in Lisbon and appreciated the efforts of the organizers and people who voted for the Great Wall. He welcomed friends from across the world to experience the "eternity and greatness" of the Great Wall.

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