LISBON, July 8: 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 coutries 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 on 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 organizing 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, said an official at the Badaling Great Wall near Beijing.

“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.—AFP