Bao Xishun

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Bao Xishun 鮑喜順
Bao Xishun at a Dalian hospital [China Daily]
Born	1951 Inner Mongolia, China
Occupation	Herdsman
Height	2.361 m (7 ft 9 in)
Spouse	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. Bao was formerly recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's tallest living man, until August 7, 2007.

Bao Xishun was born in Inner Mongolia. Measured at 236 centimeters (7 ft 8.95 in) tall at the Chifeng City Hospital, Bao Xishun has no growth disorder like gigantism^{[citation needed]} — unlike the tallest man ever, Robert Wadlow, and the current tallest living man, Leonid Stadnyk. Two other men, Ajaz Ahmed and the late Vikas Uppal, have claimed to be over 8 feet tall, 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.^[1]

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.^[1] Following this, he returned to Inner Mongolia to live with his mother.

Following his mother's death when he was 40, however, he became withdrawn until he was offered a job as a greeter at a restaurant.^[1] He quickly gained attention from the local media, who applied to Guinness World Records on his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. On August 8, 2007, Guinness book's spokeswoman Amarilis Espinoza stated that in the upcoming 2008 edition of the record book, Leonid Stadnyk (who was found to be 2.59 metres in 2006) will replace Bao as tallest living man.^[2]

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 Shujian 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 took place on July 12, 2007 at Genghis Khan holiday resort on the grasslands near Ordos city (sponsored by at least 15 companies). Bao was draped in a shimmering blue silk coat, and guests ate lamb and cheese.^{[10] [11]}

[edit] See also

• List of tallest people
• Yao Defen, tallest living woman
• Lin Yih-Chih, the world's shortest man, from Taiwan

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• World’s tallest man, Bao Xishun has married
• A photo with his bride
• World's tallest man meets world's shortest man

Preceded by Radhouane Charbib

Tallest Person January 15, 2005 – August 7, 2007

Succeeded by Leonid Stadnyk

Persondata
NAME	Xishun, Bao
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Xi Shun
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Tallest man alive
DATE OF BIRTH	1951
PLACE OF BIRTH	Inner Mongolia, China
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH