Shortest man greets world’s leggiest woman and Tallest man

He Pingping from Inner Mongolia, China’s autonomous region, the world’s smallest man sits underneath Svetlana Pankratova from Russia, the Queen of Longest Legs, as they pose at Trafalgar Square in London, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2008. Pingping, born with primordial dwarfism, holds the Guinness World Record for the smallest man at 74.61 cms (2 feet and 5.37 inches) and Pankratova holds the Guinness World Record for the longest leg of any woman at 132 cms (4 feet 4 inches) in length.

The world’s shortest man shook hands with the world’s tallest man in an historic encounter in July 2007The meeting between He Pingping - he only reaches 73 centimeters (2.4 feet) - and Bao Xishun - he towers above everyone at an amazing 2.36 meters (7.9 feet) tall - took place in their native China.

Both men are from the same region of Inner Mongolia.

They may be world’s apart in size but their worlds collided when they met to celebrate Bao’s wedding ceremony at the tomb of emperor Kublai Khan.

Hundreds, some of the travelling for hours, turned up to see the tallest man wed a woman two-thirds his height.

56-year-old herdsman Bao married saleswoman Xia Shujuan, who is a mere 1.68 meters (5 ft 6 inches) tall and just 29 years old.

He searched the world for a companion but ended up with a bride from his home town of Chifeng in Inner Mongolia.

Dressed in a shimmering blue silk coat he was carried to his wedding on the back of a mobile yurt pulled by camels.

Bao was confirmed as the tallest person by the Guinness Book of Records in 2006.

In December 2006, Bao saved the lives of two dolphins when he used his long arms to reach into their stomachs to pull out plastic shards.