7 ‘new’ Wonders of the World

LISBON – Seven “new” wonders of the world including the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal and the Colosseum in Rome were chosen overnight by nearly 100 million Internet and phone voters, upsetting purists.

The other wonders named were the centuries-old pink ruins of Petra in Jordan, the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru, and the ancient Mayan city of Chichen Itza in Mexico. British actor Ben Kingsley and US actress Hillary Swank hosted the celebrity-studded ceremony at Lisbon’s Stadium of Light, broadcast in more than 170 countries to an estimated 1,6 billion viewers.A private Swiss foundation launched the contest – dreamed up by filmmaker and museum curator Bernard Weber – in January, allowing voters to choose from 21 sites short-listed out of 77 picked by a jury of renowned architects and ex-Unesco chief Federico Mayor.It said it had gathered nearly 100 million votes by the end of polling at midnight Friday.The short-listed sites included the Acropolis in Athens, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the statues on Easter Island, Britain’s Stonehenge, Cambodia’s Angkor Wat temples, the Statue of Liberty in New York and the Alhambra in Spain.However, the UN cultural body that designates world heritage sites skipped the event.”The list of the seven new wonders will be the result of a private initiative which cannot contribute in any significant or lasting way to the preservation of the elected sites,” the Paris-based Unesco said in a statement last month.The initiative seeks to recreate the popularity of the seven wonders of the world of antiquity of which only the Pyramids of Egypt still remain.Saturday’s ceremony was attended by a myriad of stars and celebrities including former astronaut Neil Armstrong, actress and singer Jennifer Lopez, and Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates.”It is the first time in history that all the citizens of the world have been able to vote and decide,” declared Diogo Freitas do Amaral, chairman of the organising committee.In China, the televised event was not broadcast, leaving thousands of tourists at the Great Wall unaware of the new tag.”As usual there are a lot of tourists here today, but I don’t think they came here because the Great Wall was chosen as one of the seven wonders of the world,” Hu Yang, an official at the Badaling Great Wall near Beijing, told AFP by telephone.”There was no special activity to welcome this …all the same it is a great honour for all of China.”Indians handed out sweets and set off fireworks outside the Taj Mahal, a 17th century marble mausoleum built by Mughal ruler Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal.”It’s a victory of love, the message which the Taj stands for,” said Rakesh Chauhan, president of the Agra Hotel and Restaurant Association, announcing a 20 per cent cut in room rates in the town’s budget hotels for the next year.Jordan meanwhile said the flow of tourists to Petra would spiral.Faruq Hadidi, the secretary general of Jordan’s tourism ministry, said: “The result reflected the importance of the red-rose city as a cultural, tourist and archaeological site.”Underlining that around 400 000 people visit Petra each year, he added: “We expect the figure to double.”In Peru, hundreds gathered at 2 430 metres to greet the announcement that the ruins of Machu Picchu had made it on the new list.Thousands more cheered and hugged each other in Cusco, 70 kilometres to the southeast of the ruins after cafe and restaurant televisions beamed the result.”The selection of Machu Picchu is an example of what Peruvians can achieve when we unite” as they did in voting in favour of “the new marvel”, Trade and Tourism Minister Mercedes Araoz told reporters after the announcement.Thousands also cheered, waved flags and broke into Mayan dances at the archaeological ruins on Mexico’s Yucatan, when Chichen Itza became one of the seven “new” wonders of the world.”Chichen, Chichen, ra, ra, ra,” chanted a group of Mexicans in white flowing robes at the foot of the Kukulkan (The Castle), the central pyramid that dominates the ruins and was built 967-987.The Mayan ruins attract more than one million tourists a year.In Rio de Janeiro, which hosted one of the Live Earth concerts, hundreds of thousands of singing and dancing revellers broke into huge applause as they were told that the city’s landmark Christ the Redeemer statue was a new “wonder”.Nampa-AFPBritish actor Ben Kingsley and US actress Hillary Swank hosted the celebrity-studded ceremony at Lisbon’s Stadium of Light, broadcast in more than 170 countries to an estimated 1,6 billion viewers.A private Swiss foundation launched the contest – dreamed up by filmmaker and museum curator Bernard Weber – in January, allowing voters to choose from 21 sites short-listed out of 77 picked by a jury of renowned architects and ex-Unesco chief Federico Mayor.It said it had gathered nearly 100 million votes by the end of polling at midnight Friday.The short-listed sites included the Acropolis in Athens, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the statues on Easter Island, Britain’s Stonehenge, Cambodia’s Angkor Wat temples, the Statue of Liberty in New York and the Alhambra in Spain.However, the UN cultural body that designates world heritage sites skipped the event.”The list of the seven new wonders will be the result of a private initiative which cannot contribute in any significant or lasting way to the preservation of the elected sites,” the Paris-based Unesco said in a statement last month.The initiative seeks to recreate the popularity of the seven wonders of the world of antiquity of which only the Pyramids of Egypt still remain.Saturday’s ceremony was attended by a myriad of stars and celebrities including former astronaut Neil Armstrong, actress and singer Jennifer Lopez, and Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates.”It is the first time in history that all the citizens of the world have been able to vote and decide,” declared Diogo Freitas do Amaral, chairman of the organising committee.In China, the televised event was not broadcast, leaving thousands of tourists at the Great Wall unaware of the new tag.”As usual there are a lot of tourists here today, but I don’t think they came here because the Great Wall was chosen as one of the seven wonders of the world,” Hu Yang, an official at the Badaling Great Wall near Beijing, told AFP by telephone.”There was no special activity to welcome this …all the same it is a great honour for all of China.”Indians handed out sweets and set off fireworks outside the Taj Mahal, a 17th century marble mausoleum built by Mughal ruler Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal.”It’s a victory of love, the message which the Taj stands for,” said Rakesh Chauhan, president of the Agra Hotel and Restaurant Association, announcing a 20 per cent cut in room rates in the town’s budget hotels for the next year.Jordan meanwhile said the flow of tourists to Petra would spiral.Faruq Hadidi, the secretary general of Jordan’s tourism ministry, said: “The result reflected the importance of the red-rose city as a cultural, tourist and archaeological site.”Underlining that around 400 000 people visit Petra each year, he added: “We expect the figure to double.”In Peru, hundreds gathered at 2 430 metres to greet the announcement that the ruins of Machu Picchu had made it on the new list.Thousands more cheered and hugged each other in Cusco, 70 kilometres to the southeast of the ruins after cafe and restaurant televisions beamed the result.”The selection of Machu Picchu is an example of what Peruvians can achieve when we unite” as they did in voting in favour of “the new marvel”, Trade and Tourism Minister Mercedes Araoz told reporters after the announcement.Thousands also cheered, waved flags and broke into Mayan dances at the archaeological ruins on Mexico’s Yucatan, when Chichen Itza became one of the seven “new” wonders of the world.”Chichen, Chichen, ra, ra, ra,” chanted a group of Mexicans in white flowing robes at the foot of the Kukulkan (The Castle), the central pyramid that dominates the ruins and was built 967-987.The Mayan ruins
attract more than one million tourists a year.In Rio de Janeiro, which hosted one of the Live Earth concerts, hundreds of thousands of singing and dancing revellers broke into huge applause as they were told that the city’s landmark Christ the Redeemer statue was a new “wonder”.Nampa-AFP