Bao Xishun

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Bao Xishun, also known as Xi Shun or "The Mast" (Simplified Chinese: 鲍喜顺; Traditional Chinese: 鮑喜順; born in China, 1951), is a herdsman from Inner Mongolia and, since January 15, 2005, has been recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's tallest living man.

Measured at 2.361 metres (7 ft 8.95 in) tall at the Chifeng City Hospital, Bao Xishun has no growth disorder like gigantism — unlike the tallest man ever, Robert Wadlow, and the tallest living man claimants, Leonid Stadnyk and Ajaz Ahmed. Stadnyk and Ahmed claim a height of 2.54 metres (8 ft 4 in), but their claims are controversial, and not currently accepted by Guinness. Stadnyk was confirmed by TLC to be (8 ft 4 in) but has yet to be measured by Guiness. 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Following his mother's death when he was 40, however, he became withdrawn until he was offered a job as a greeter at a restaurant.^[1] He quickly gained attention from the local media, who applied to Guinness World Records on his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.

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.^[2] 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."^[3] (The story is similar to that of American basketball player Clifford Ray, who was asked to use his long arms to save a California dolphin in 1978).

Bao Xishun married saleswoman Xia Shujian on 24 March 2007.^{[4] [5]} "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, [Beijing New] said."^{[6] [7]}

[edit] See also

• List of famous tall men
• Sandy Allen, tallest living woman

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Tallest Man - Living at Guinness World Records
• World’s tallest man, Bao Xishun has married

Preceded by Radhouane Charbib

Tallest Person January 15, 2005 –

Succeeded by Incumbent

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