Bao Xishun

Bao Xishun
Bao Xishun in Stockholm 2006
Born	1951 (age 59–60) Inner Mongolia, China
Occupation	Herdsman
Height	2.36 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 Big Guy") (simplified Chinese: 鲍喜顺; traditional Chinese: 鮑喜順; pinyin: Bào Xǐshùn) (born 1951) is a Mongols herdsman from Inner Mongolia, China, who was recognized by Guinness World Records as one of the world's tallest living men. Guinness World Records had returned the title of world’s tallest man to him after Ukrainian Leonid Stadnyk took over the title briefly. 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]

On September 17, 2009, Turk Sultan Kösen overtook Bao Xishun as the tallest living man in the world, when he was measured by Guinness World Records, standing 2.47 metres (8 ft 1 in) tall.^[2]

Early life

Bao Xishun worked at the Chifeng City local Hospital for several months, during which time he was measured to be 2.36 metres (7 ft 9 in). Bao suffers from rheumatism, although this has been attributed to his childhood habit of sleeping outdoors, rather than a height-linked disorder.^[3]

Bao Xishun claims to have been of normal height until he was sixteen years old 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.^[3] Following this, he returned to Inner Mongolia to live with his mother.

Fame

At the age of 45, he became withdrawn after the death of his mother until he was offered a job as a greeter at a restaurant.^[3] He quickly gained attention from the local media, who applied to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.^[4][5] (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.)^[6]

Bao Xishun married saleswoman Xia Shujuan on March 24, 2007.^{[7][8][9][10]} The Mongolian ceremony (sponsored by at least 15 companies)^{[citation needed]} took place on July 12, 2007 at the Genghis Khan holiday resort on the grasslands near Ordos City.^[11][12] Bao's surname indicates that he belongs to the same paternal lineage as Genghis Khan's clan, Borjigin.^{[citation needed]} Amongst the guests was fellow Inner-Mongolian and the shortest man in the world, He Pingping.

Xishun's daughter was born at a hospital in Zunhua, Hebei province October 2, 2008.^[13]

Bao appeared on the eleventh episode of The Amazing Race 16 as the pitstop greeter. The episode aired on May 2nd 2010. He was considered to be the world's tallest man at the time of filming, but a few days later, Sultan Kösen was measured by the Guinness Book of World Records and declared to be the tallest.^[14]

See also

• List of tallest people
• Robert Wadlow, tallest man in history
• Sultan Kösen, tallest living man
• Yao Defen, tallest living woman
• Gigantism
• Khagendra Thapa Magar, the current shortest living man, from Nepal.

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 2006-08-20. 
2. ^ "Dünyanın en uzun boylu insanı bir Kürt - Firat News Agency". firatnews.com. 2009-09-17. http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http://www.firatnews.com/index.php%3Frupel%3Dnuce%26nuceID%3D14002&sl=tr&tl=en. Retrieved 2010-02-06. 
3. ^ ^{a b c} "World's tallest man longs to live a normal and happy life". China Daily. 2006-08-11. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2006-08/11/content_662093.htm. Retrieved 2006-12-14. 
4. ^ "World's tallest man saves dolphin". www.bbc.co.uk. 2006-12-14. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6178659.stm. Retrieved 2006-12-14. 
5. ^ "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 2006-12-14. 
6. ^ Springer, Shira. "Ray jumps into job". Boston Globe, May 24, 2006.
7. ^ "World's tallest man gets married". www.bbc.co.uk. 2007-03-28. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6502203.stm. Retrieved 2007-03-28. 
8. ^ "World's tallest man finds (shorter) other half". The New Zealand Herald. 28 March 2007. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10431350. Retrieved 17 September 2011. 
9. ^ "World's tallest man ties knot". AP. 2007-03-28. http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/03/28/china.tall.ap/index.html. ^{[dead link]}
10. ^ "Home is where the heart is for world's tallest man". Yahoo!. Archived from the original on 2007-03-31. http://web.archive.org/web/20070331195536/http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070328/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_china_tallest. Retrieved 2007-03-28. 
11. ^ "World's tallest man marries, sweeps bride off feet". news.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on 2007-07-14. http://web.archive.org/web/20070714173628/http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070712/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_china_tallest. Retrieved 2007-07-12. 
12. ^ Wedding photo
13. ^ http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_china_tall
14. ^ Dey, Madhuri (3 May 2010). "World’s Tallest Man Appears On "The Amazing Race"". Thaindian News. http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/entertainment/worlds-tallest-man-appears-on-the-amazing-race_100357805.html. Retrieved 10 May 2010. 

External links

• World’s tallest man, Bao Xishun, has married
• A photo with his bride (picture 4)
• World's tallest man meets world's shortest man
• Bao Xishun - World's tallest man

Preceded by Radhouane Charbib	Tallest Recognized Person January 15, 2005 – August 7, 2007	Succeeded by Leonid Stadnyk
Preceded by Leonid Stadnyk	Tallest Recognized Person August 20, 2008– September 17, 2009	Succeeded by Sultan Kösen

זחט

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