In terms of height they are worlds apart.The world’s tallest man, Bao Xishun today shook hands with He Pingping who claims to be Earth’s shortest.
But these two men actually hail from the same region of Inner Mongolia.
While Mr Xishun, 56, towers above everyone at an astonishing 7.9ft, 19-year-old Mr Pingping is a mere 2.4ft high.Bao Xishun, a herdsman from Chifeng, Inner Mongolia, was recently married in a traditional ceremony to a 28-year-old saleswoman from his hometown. At 5ft 6″ Xia Shujian only comes up to his elbow and is half his age.
He claims he was of normal height until he was 16 when he experienced a growth spurt and reached his present height seven years later.
Mr Xishun was confirmed as the tallest person by the Guinness Book of Records last year.
Mr Pingping was born nearby in Wulanchabu city, Inner Mongolia. His father claims he was only the size of an adult’s palm at birth.
He is now seeking to be registered as the world’s shortest man by the Guinness Book of Recrods. He could be in for a disappointment though. While Mr Pingping is 73cms tall, the current holder of the title Lin Yih-Chih was measured as 67.5cm.
I’m not sure why it seems this type of thing is still arranged. Maybe for the same reason I felt myself drawn to read and then post about it. We still celebrate the unusual, even as we protest that calling people unusual is wrong. The psychosis of the thing is ironic.
I read an article earlier where they world tallest man was asked and participated in helping a Chinese “Sea World” remove some plastic from the stomach of a dolphin by shoving his large arm down its throat. It seems that the weird is what he’s using as a living. Too bad that never lasts.
As for what The Daily Mail called “the World Shortest Person” and then later admitted that there was a lady that was shorter… Well too bad whatever is wrong with him has severely hampered his muscle development such that he couldn’t even stand without someone holding him.
Tags: Interesting, Irony, News, Oddities
This is a circus freak show. I don’t understand how a man could live that way, or men in this case.