長城名列“世界新七大奇蹟”之首！
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 .
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.
長城躋身“世界新七大奇蹟”之首！
除中國的萬里長城外，粉紅色的約旦佩特拉古城、巴西里約熱內盧的基督像、祕魯的馬丘比丘印加遺址、墨西哥的奇琴伊察瑪雅城邦遺址、意大利的古羅馬鬥獸場和印度的泰姬陵也入選“世界新七大奇蹟”。
今年1月，瑞士一個民間基金會發起了一項面向全球的“世界新七大奇蹟”評選活動，入圍的21個世界名勝古蹟是評委會從基金會篩選出的77個古蹟中評選出來的。此次評選活動共收到近1億張選票，評選結果於上週六晚在葡萄牙的首都里斯本揭曉。
希臘的雅典衛城、英國的巨石陣、柬埔寨的吳哥窟、復活節島巨人像和巴黎的埃菲爾鐵塔等幾大熱門侯選古蹟未能入選。
這一民間評選活動的想法是瑞士電影製作人、博物館館長伯納德·韋伯提出的，他說他的初衷是想重振世界七大奇蹟的人氣。
在原先的七大奇蹟中，除埃及金字塔依然屹立在地球上之外，巴比倫的“空中花園”、希臘奧林匹亞的宙斯神像、月亮女神阿爾特彌斯的神廟、摩索拉斯陵墓、羅得島太陽神銅像和亞歷山大燈塔其它幾大奇蹟都已被毀壞。
新浪網一位網友稱：“一個世界文化遺址真正的文化和歷史價值不應該由網友投票來決定，而應由它對人類的意義來決定。”
中國長城學會的副祕書長張驥對評選結果表示歡迎。他說，長城入選“世界新七大奇蹟”有助於保護長城工作的開展。
中國長城學會官員韓國威在里斯本的揭曉儀式上發表了講話。他對主辦方和爲長城投票的人們所做出的努力表示了感謝。同時，他還歡迎世界各地的朋友來長城親自感受它的“不朽與偉大”。
