Tallest man marries woman two-thirds his height

THE world’s tallest man married a woman two-thirds his size and almost half his age yesterday in a traditional Mongolian ceremony sponsored by at least 15 companies hoping to cash in on his fame.

Bao Xishun, 56, a 7ft 9in herdsman from China’s vast Inner Mongolia region, was carried to his wedding on the back of a mobile yurt pulled by camels at the Genghis Khan holiday resort on the grasslands near Erdos city.

Hundreds of people, some travelling for hours, turned up to see Bao wed saleswoman Xia Shujuan, a mere 5ft 6in tall and just 29 years old.

Draped in a shimmering blue silk coat, Bao waved to the crowd before going into an enormous yurt where guests ate lamb and cheese and watched Mongolian song and dance shows.

“If we can have children, we’ll have children,” Bao said before the wedding. “If not, then not.

“If we have a child, I hope he or she can be 1.8-1.9-metres tall. Then he or she can play basketball.”

Xia said she was madly in love.