World's tallest man weds in China

12 July 2007

BEIJING (AFP) - A decades-long search by the world's tallest man for a bride finally came to an end on Thursday when the Chinese herdsman married a woman who barely stands up to his elbow.

Bao Xishun, who stands 2.36 metres (seven feet nine inches), wed sales clerk Xia Shujun in a traditional ceremony in the grasslands of northern China's Inner Mongolia, where both are from, Internet portal Sohu.com reported.

Photos showed Bao, 56, dressed in a sky-blue silk robe, beaming as he sat next his 28-year-old bride just before the nuptials were pronounced.

Bao Xishun and his bride Xia Shujuan at their wedding ceremony yesterday on the outskirts of Erdos in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region

Xia is just 1.68 metres tall but said when her courtship with Bao began early this year that their height difference was not a problem.

"Xia said that as they got to know each other she stopped noticing how tall Bao was and was moved instead by his thoughtfulness," China's official Xinhua news agency reported in March.

After a lifetime as a bachelor, Bao, who is a celebrity in China, began searching for a bride last year and heard back from more than 20 interested women from across the country.

After a one-month courtship, the two decided to get married. Thursday's ceremony began early in the morning and will last through the night.

The gentle Bao made headlines late last year when he was called upon to use his long arms to pull plastic trash from the stomachs of two ailing dolphins at an aquarium in northeastern China.

Bao was confirmed last year by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's tallest living man.

The Worlds Tallest Man Meets The Worlds Shortest Man

Newlywed Bao Xishun at nearly 8ft tall has been introduced to He PingPing at just 2ft 5in.