Started by Bernard Weber, the New7Wonders foundation is running a worldwide campaign to select an official set of wonders for our modern world. There are many lists of modern wonders developed by many groups, but as this is a worldwide vote, it will likely be regarded as “official.” The statistics for the website of the New7Wonders campaign, where you may cast your vote, show that the campaign is going exceedingly strong. It has exceeded many of the world’s most prominent brands and organizations in online traffic, including the websites for the UN, Fifa, the Olympics, Coca-Cola, Adidas, Levis, and BMW. 

There is a list of 21 choices, including the only honorary inductee into the new set of wonders, the Pyramids of Giza. Many of the choices are familiar to many, and some are not. The New7Wonders foundation has compiled links and information for each of the possibilities so that voters can learn more. The list of possible new wonders is as follows:

The Acropolis in Athens, Greece 
Alhambra in Granada, Spain 
Angkor in Cambodia 
The Pyramid at Chichén Itzá in Mexico 
Christ Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 
The Colosseum in Rome, Italy 
The Easter Island Statues in Chile 
The Eiffel Tower in Paris, France 
The Great Wall of China 
Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey 
The Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto, Japan 
The Kremlin / St. Basil in Moscow, Russia 
Machu Picchu in Peru 
Neuschwanstein Castle in Schwangau, Switzerland 
Petra in Jordan
The Statue of Liberty in New York, USA 
Stonehenge in the UK 
The Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia 
The Taj Mahal in Agra, India 
Timbuktu in Mali 
 

An impressive list of structures and places worldwide, the voting is going strong. With little more than a month left until the day the new list is declared, the votes are still pouring in. The New7Wonders founder Bernard Weber says it best: “People from every country in the world have voted and continue to post photos and videos, submit slogans and spread the word. New7Wonders is a passionate movement that is making waves worldwide.” 
 

Hu, accompanied by his wife, Liu Yongqing, strolled around the white marble monument built by Mughal emperor Shahjahan in the 17th century as a symbol of his enduring love for his wife Mumtaz Mahal.

"The wonder of the world and a treasure for human beings," Hu wrote in the visitor's book after a 45-minute tour of the monument, accompanied by dozens of Chinese and Indian officials and watched over by scores of police in the complex.

As he entered the monument complex through its east gate, Hu stopped for a moment and took a step back as he looked at the onion-shaped marble dome, as if struck by its beauty, and then smiled.

The Chinese leader, dressed in a black coat and trousers with a white shirt, was taken to the tomb which houses the marble cenotaphs of Mumtaz and Shahjahan, below which lie their graves, side by side.

Before entering the revered tomb, Hu and his wife had red shoe covers put on their feet.

The Chinese leader listened attentively as officials explained the history of the Taj Mahal, or "crown palace' in Urdu, which was completed in the middle of the 17th century after 22 years of building involving more than 20,000 workers.

Hu and his wife then sat on a marble bench with the Taj as a backdrop and got themselves clicked, a ritual millions of ordinary tourists and world leaders have followed.

Hu arrived in Agra, a crowded and polluted town 200 km (125 miles) south of New Delhi, earlier on Wednesday, with hundreds of policemen sealing off his route as well as the Taj Mahal.

But two young Tibetan activists, opposed to Chinese rule in Tibet, tried to rush into the hotel where he had lunch, less than an hour before he arrived.

Police, who collared off the slogan-shouting protesters, had earlier removed posters -- which read "China lies, people die" with Hu's face printed on them -- put up along the route from Agra airport to his hotel.