Bao Xishun

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
Bao Xishun
鮑喜順

Bao Xishun in Stockholm 2006
Born 1951
Inner Mongolia, China
Occupation Herdsman
Height 2.36 m (7 ft 9 in)
Spouse(s) Xia Shujian
This is a Chinese name; the family name is Bao.

Bao Xishun (also known as Xi Shun or "The Mast") (simplified Chinese: 鲍喜顺; traditional Chinese: 鮑喜順; pinyin: Bào Xǐshùn) (born 1951) is a herdsman from Inner Mongolia, China, who is recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's tallest living man. Guinness World Records has returned the title of world’s tallest man back to him after Ukrainian Leonid Stadnyk took over the title shortly. After Stadnyk refused to be measured under new guidelines, which required him to be independently measured by Guinness World Records’s adjudicators, the title was returned to Xishun.[1]

Contents

[edit] Early career

Bao Xishun, born in Inner Mongolia, measured at 2.36 meters (7 ft 8.95 in) tall at the Chifeng City Hospital. Two other men, Ajaz Ahmed and the late Vikas Uppal, have claimed to be over 8 feet tall,[citation needed] but these claims have not been independently verified. Bao suffers from rheumatism, although this has been attributed to his childhood habit of sleeping outdoors, rather than a height-linked disorder.[2]

Bao Xishun claims to have been of normal height until he was 16 when he experienced a growth spurt for unknown reasons and reached his present height seven years later. Bao served in the People's Liberation Army for three years, and played for the army basketball team until his rheumatism began to appear, leading to his discharge from the army.[2] Following this, he returned to Inner Mongolia to live with his mother.

At the age of 40, he became withdrawn after the death of his mother until he was offered a job as a greeter at a restaurant.[2] He quickly gained attention from the local media, who applied to Guinness World Records on his behalf. He was measured and found to be 2 mm taller than the previous record holder, Radhouane Charbib.

In December 2006, Bao Xishun was asked by veterinarians to assist them in removing shards of plastic from the stomachs of two dolphins. The dolphins had accidentally swallowed the shards, which had settled in their stomachs and caused a loss of appetite and depression. Veterinarians had failed to remove them, so Bao Xishun used his 1.06 metre-long arms to reach into the dolphins' stomachs, to remove the plastic manually.[3] The manager of the aquarium, the Royal Jidi Ocean World, confirmed, "When we failed to get the objects out we sought the help of Bao Xishun from Inner Mongolia and he did it successfully yesterday. The two dolphins are expected to make a full recovery."[4] (A similar operation was performed by American basketball player Clifford Ray, who was asked to use his long arms to save a California dolphin in 1978.)[5]

Bao Xishun married saleswoman Xia Shujuan on 24 March 2007.[6][7] At the time they got married, Beijing News said that "Bao's 28-year-old bride is half his age and hailed from his hometown of Chifeng, even though marriage advertisements were sent around the world."[8][9] The authentic Mongolian ceremony (sponsored by at least 15 companies)[citation needed] took place on July 12, 2007 at Genghis Khan holiday resort on the grasslands near Ordos city. Bao was draped in a shimmering blue silk coat, and guests ate lamb and cheese.[10][11] Bao's surname indicates that he belongs to the same paternal lineage as Genghis Khan's clan, Borjigin.

His new-born baby, a son, was born at a hospital in Zunhua, Hebei province October 2, 2008.[12]

[edit] Rival contender

In April 2009, Xinhua reported that Zhao Liang had been measured at 2.46m, 10 cm taller than Bao.[13]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "New rules make China's Bao world's tallest again". Reuters. 2008-08-20. http://uk.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUKN1929897020080820?sp=true. Retrieved on 2006-08-20. 
  2. ^ a b c "World's tallest man longs to live a normal life". China Daily. 2006-08-11. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2006-08/11/content_662093.htm. Retrieved on 2006-12-14. 
  3. ^ "World's tallest man saves dolphin". www.bbc.co.uk. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6178659.stm. Retrieved on 2006-12-14. 
  4. ^ "World's tallest man saves choking dolphins". www.thestar.com. http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&pubid=968163964505&cid=1166097911876&col=968705899037&call_page=TS_News&call_pageid=968332188492&call_pagepath=News/News. Retrieved on 2006-12-14. 
  5. ^ Springer, Shira. "Ray jumps into job". Boston Globe, May 24, 2006.
  6. ^ "World's tallest man gets married". www.bbc.co.uk. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6502203.stm. Retrieved on 2007-03-28. 
  7. ^ World's tallest man finds (shorter) other half, NZ Herald.
  8. ^ "World's tallest man ties knot". AP. 2007-03-28. http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/03/28/china.tall.ap/index.html. 
  9. ^ "Home is where the heart is for world's tallest man". Yahoo!. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070328/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_china_tallest. Retrieved on 2007-03-28. 
  10. ^ "World's tallest man marries, sweeps bride off feet". news.yahoo.com. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070712/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_china_tallest. Retrieved on 2007-07-12. 
  11. ^ Wedding photo
  12. ^ http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_china_tall
  13. ^ Coonan, Clifford (22 April 2009). "Former basketball player may be tallest person in the world". The Irish Times. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2009/0422/1224245132233.html. Retrieved on 2009-04-22. 

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Radhouane Charbib		 Tallest Person
January 15, 2005 – August 7, 2007		 Succeeded by
Zhao Liang
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bao_Xishun"
Personal tools