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World's biggest, longest, tallest -- China has it all
BEIJING, China (AP) -- World's smallest model globe? Check. World's largest jade Buddha? Check. World's longest theatrical run for a movie and youngest record-holding female athlete? Check and check. All are present and accounted for in the world's most populous nation. Chalking up entries in the Guinness Book of Records at a steady clip, China has been given its own Guinness office, set up by the famed record-keeping organization's London headquarters to screen potential applicants for future editions. "It's something we've been considering for a couple of years, given the number of records and the interest in China," said Stewart Newport, the so-called "Keeper of the Records" at the publication's head office in London. "It was time to establish an office as a point of contact for people in the country." The company commissioned to the task is Liaoning Education Press, based in the northeastern city of Shenyang, which has been publishing the Chinese version of the book since 1999. It operates with the same verification rules as the main office. "Guinness had noticed that many world records were taking place here, and that it wouldn't be fair if they ignored such a big population," said Tang Risong, chief of the Guinness (China) Application Center. Biggest, longest, smallest
For now, six employees handle the Chinese version of the book -- of which they sell about 30,000 copies every year -- and review applicants, Tang said. He said the center will eventually expand. Liaoning has received 70 to 80 record applicants and submitted about a dozen to London. At least three have been certified: • The longest uninterrupted run of a film at one venue (the screening of "Love on Lushan Mountain" at a movie theater in the southeastern province of Jiangxi four times a day since 1980) • The smallest model globe (0.2 inches in diameter, in Shanghai) • The biggest jade Buddha (287.5 tons and about 25 feet high, in Anshan in the northeast) Among others being evaluated: the biggest pen for signatures and the longest time a basketball was spun on one finger -- purportedly seven hours. Highest death tollsThe idea for the Guinness Book of Records was born in 1951, when Sir Hugh Beaver, managing director of Guinness Brewery, got into an argument about what was the fastest game bird in Europe. He realized a book that could answer such questions might prove popular. By 1955, the first Guinness Book of Records was compiled; it topped British best-seller lists by that December. Today, Guinness says it has set a record of its own by being the best-selling copyrighted book. Its 2003 edition has been translated into 22 languages. There are 86 entries for China on the publication's Web site, ranging from sports-related records (Wang Yan, 14, was the youngest female athlete to break a record with her 5,000-meter walk in 1986), to the world's largest goldfish (a 14.7-inch specimen called Bruce), and the tallest human chair stack (21 feet) by the Beijing Acrobats. The nation of 1.3 billion also has the world's largest square (Tiananmen, 97.9 acres) where the largest building used for theatrical performances sits (The 12.9-acre Great Hall of the People, which can seat an audience of up to 10,000 people). It also boasts the world's longest dancing dragon (10,000 feet), performed at the Great Wall, which is also the world's longest at 2,150 miles. China's less-auspicious records are listed, too: most number of recorded executions (17,500 between 1990 and 1999); worst death toll from famine (40 million between 1959 and 1961); and highest death tolls from flooding (900,000 people in 1887) and earthquake (830,000 in 1556). Copyright 2003 The Associated Press.
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