Is this the world's tallest man?

When Zhao Liang, 27, arrived for a hospital visit in the north China city of Tianjin, hospital staff received a massive surprise.

Zhao was there for foot surgery, but his dimensions were totally unexpected. Shocked hospital staff were quick to get him measured, and the result – an unofficial height of 8-feet, 1-inch – nearly four inches taller than the Guinness Book of Records tallest man, 57-year-old Bao Xishun.

Zhao is not just tall, but huge, weighing 155 kilograms and wearing size 56 European shoes.

After leaving school at 14, Zhao worked in construction as a labourer. Both his parents are farmers, but they don't resemble their son in size. Zhao's father is 5-feet, 9-inches and his mother 5 feet, 5 inches.

In 2006 he left labouring when an artistic troupe noticed him and employed him as a musician, playing the hulusi, a traditional Chinese wind instrument.

His mother Wang Keyun says Zhao has many friends, but told AFP he has no girlfriend – a fact that leaves her "really worried."

His sudden celebrity could change that, like it did for Xishun. A lifelong bachelor, his newfound celebrity as the world's tallest man helped him find a wife in his 50s.

Now, after a lifetime of obscurity, Zhao's visit to the doctors is likely to make him a global star, thanks to the doctors who treated him, and then spread the word about his height.

- NZ HERALD STAFF