The Great
Wall, the Eiffel Tower and the Taj Mahal are among the
21?sites chosen as final candidates?for the New Seven
Wonders of the World, the official website swissinfo reported
Wednesday.
The Swiss-based organizers, who unveiled the shortlist, have
called on the public to take part in an online vote to whittle the
list down to seven. The winning sites will be announced on
the?New Year's Day of 2007.
The idea of creating a new list of?world wonders was the
brainchild of Bernard Weber, a Swiss adventurer and filmmaker.
The original seven wonders of the ancient world were selected by
the Greek philosopher Philon more than 2,000 years ago. The Great
Pyramid of Giza, which is included in the list of finalists, is the
only one of the original wonders still standing.
"I believe that after more than 2,000 years it's time to
redefine the world wonders," Weber told Swiss television following
the announcement of the shortlist. "Thanks to the Internet and
telephone, for the first time in history the whole world can take
part in this process."
According to Weber's New Seven Wonders Foundation, the public
responded enthusiastically, with 19 million people taking part in
voting between 2001 and the end of 2005.
For inclusion in the list, the new wonders had to be man-made,
completed by 2000 and in an "acceptable" state of preservation.
Each continent had to be represented by at least one wonder, but
there could not be more than one per country.
"They should become symbols of unity in the modern world, just
as the original seven wonders were symbols of the ancient world,"
Weber said.
The shortlist of 21 includes ancient sites such as the Acropolis
in Athens and India's Taj Mahal as well as more recent
constructions, notably the Sydney Opera House and New York's Statue
of Liberty.
(Xinhua News Agency January 5, 2006)