Bao Xishun, the World's Tallest Man

Rival for the Crown
For a year beginning in 2007, the title of world's tallest man was taken away from Bao and given to Leonid Stadnyk, above, a veterinary surgeon from northwest Ukraine. When Stadnyk refused to be measured under new Guinness guidelines, the world record adjudicators returned the title to Bao.

• China on the Wild Side
• A Brief History of Guinness World Records