Zhao Liang is a

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...

performer from

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. In April 2009, doctors in

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...

measured his height at . If confirmed, this would make him the second tallest living person after

Sultan Kösen Sultan Kösen (born 10 December 1982) is a Turkish farmer who holds the Guinness World Record for tallest living male at . Of Kurdish ethnicity, he is the seventh-tallest man in history. Kösen's growth resulted from the conditions gigantism ...

, but taller than previous record holder

Bao Xishun Bao Xishun (also known as Xi Shun; born November 2, 1951) is a Chinese-Mongolian herdsman from Chifeng, Inner Mongolia, recognized by ''Guinness World Records'' as one of the world's tallest living men at tall. He was formerly certified as t ...

who has been measured by the

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

as .

Leonid Stadnyk Leonid Stepanovych Stadnyk ( uk , Леонід Степанович Стадник; 5 August 1970 – 24 August 2014) was a Ukrainian man who claimed to have stood at though the photographic evidence suggests he was no more than 7 ft 9 ...

, reported to be tall, briefly held the title, but was disqualified due to his refusal to be measured. Zhao played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

until

ligament A ligament is the fibrous connective tissue that connects bones to other bones. It is also known as ''articular ligament'', ''articular larua'', ''fibrous ligament'', or ''true ligament''. Other ligaments in the body include the: * Peritoneal li ...

damage to his left foot in 2001. His 2009 hospital trip related to this injury as he was too poor to have it treated sooner. He suffers of gigantism Despite advising Zhao Liang against any intense physical exercise, Zhao's surgeon has declared that he has no health issues related to his height. His parents and siblings are average height. He was unemployed until 2006, when he joined a circus in

Jilin Jilin (; alternately romanized as Kirin or Chilin) is one of the three provinces of Northeast China. Its capital and largest city is Changchun. Jilin borders North Korea (Rasŏn, North Hamgyong, Ryanggang and Chagang) and Russia (Prim ...

province. Though recruited for his height, he now also does

magic trick Magic, which encompasses the subgenres of illusion, stage magic, and close up magic, among others, is a performing art in which audiences are entertained by tricks, effects, or illusions of seemingly impossible feats, using natural means. It ...

s and plays the

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

and cucurbit flute.

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Story & Picture
from the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print ...

'' People from Henan 21st-century circus performers 1982 births People with gigantism Living people {{China-bio-stub

See also

References

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