Mr. Versatility hits Xiamen
By Enid Chen
Photos by Yao Fan

12月17日, 美国人阿什里塔·弗曼在厦门环岛路成功地冲击了一项吉尼斯世界纪录, 他以39分55秒的时间踩高跷走完了5英里, 打破了法国人于1892年创下的42分钟纪录. 这是此位"吉尼斯狂人"创下的第91项纪录, 其中87项已被吉尼斯官方确认, 此次纪录也是他在中国创下的第一项世界纪录.

On November 17, American Ashrita Furman-world's largest number of Guinness Records holder, broke yet another record by finishing 5 miles on a pair of 100cm-high stilts in 39 minutes and 55 seconds on the beautiful Island Ring Road in Xiamen. The old record of 42 minutes had been held by a French man since 1892. This was Furman's 91st Guinness Record, among which 87 have been officially approved.

His first record in China

Walking on a pair of iron stilts is never easy for anyone, not to mention walking for 5 miles within 40 minutes. It not only requires great physical strength and endurance but also mental concentration. Ashrita said he was also very nervous before he started that morning since he had never even tried 5 miles before but only 4 miles and wasn't sure whether he could complete it and break the old record. "Now I'm very happy that I made it. In the last mile, I had to be really focused. There were a few times when I lost my balance a little and almost fell to the ground. I couldn't afford a fall, because it's very difficult to stand up again on those stilts once you fall. When I reached the finishing line, I was extraordinarily excited."

Ashrita had been training for months and it was his hope that he could make this new record in China. His first destination in China was Sanya in Southern China's Hainan Island. But it was too hot there. So he came to Xiamen. "I arrived in Xiamen on December 7. This is my first time to visit Xiamen and it's my favorite place in China. I really like the weather, the sea and the nice people. When I saw the Island Ring Road, I knew that it was the perfect place. Now I'm very happy that I set my first record in China.

"The truth is that this record in Xiamen is the most impressive up to now. I'm very honest about that, not because I'm in China now but rather that this record had been held for more than 100 years. This has been a hard victory because it was really difficult. I lost about four kilos in the three-months of training for this record. The stilts weigh four kilos each and I had to balance at a height of 55cm off the ground. I had to keep all eyes and ears open."



A Guinness Record "maniac"

Born in 1954, four days after the Guinness Book of World Records came into being, Ashrita said this was probably where his connection with Guinness Records lies and the reason why he was so crazy about setting records one after another. As a little boy, he became intrigued by the Guinness Book of World Records and dreamed of getting in it one day. He never knew what his endurance was capable of until he rode 405 miles in a 24-hour bike race in 1978. That's when he vowed: "I'm going to break a Guinness Record."

It was in 1979 when he set his first Guinness Record for 27,000 jumping jacks over almost five hours. Since then, he couldn't help himself from doing these funny but also challenging records. He has set 87 official Guinness Records in different categories and four more are pending. It seems to Ashrita that nothing is impossible. Therefore, he was dubbed "Mr. Versatility". Over the years, many of his records have either been broken by Ashrita himself or by others, or in some cases, the category has been retired. But he still holds an amazing total of 26 records, including pogo stick jumping, underwater juggling , hula hoop racing and orange nose push. He doesn't mind that his 60 odd records have been broken.

One thing worth mentioning is that he broke the records all over the world. His goal of setting records in the seven continents, including Antarctica, has come true.



Joy of self-transcendence

"It brings me a tremendous joy of fulfillment and self-transcendence and closer to my inner self every time I challenge myself to my own limits and break a new record."

However, Ashrita has also failed thousands of times. In October of this year, he was invited to England to break a record on a live TV show commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Guinness Book of World Records. It was a big extravaganza - a national, live broadcast featuring 50 record attempts spanning two hours. But he failed at that time in front of an audience of 2 million people. "But I learned from the failures and tried over and over again. That's why I succeeded in setting more and more records. Now I firmly believe that failures are the pillars of success."

Ashrita will travel across China until February of next year and hopes to set another record in China. "I want to set a record next to the Great Wall, maybe by hopping on one leg. I hope the number of records can reach 100 next year."

"I never consider myself as a special person. I'm very grateful and happy that I'm blessed with the capacity to break those records and make people laugh and inspire them. It's my firm belief that everyone can do better than they imagine." Ashrita concluded.

Vocabulary
jumping jacks: 跳爆竹, 跳跃运动
pogo stick: 弹簧单高跷
underwater juggling: 水下杂耍
hula hoop racing: 呼拉圈赛
self-transcendence:自我超越

My Xiamen



Kenneth Anstice is a retired teacher from Canada who taught history and law. He is an amateur musician and used to teach playing the guitar. If you are interested in learning to play the guitar, please contact him at enirehtakanstice@hotmail.com.

1. How long have you been in Xiamen?
I have been in Xiamen for two and a half years.

2. What's your job here? How do you like your job?
I'm an English teacher in Xiamen Foreign Language School. I like my job, but I teach about 450 students, and it is difficult for me to figure out how to teach them by different methods.

3. What do you like best about Xiamen?
It is a beautiful city, which has a clean environment and pleasant climate.

4. How do you spend your spare time in Xiamen?
I like to hike, run, read and watch movies. I often ride a bicycle around Xiamen.

5. If there was one thing that you could change about Xiamen, what would that be?
There are too many cars which cause air pollution. Xiamen is not very big. Therefore I think it is unnecessary for so many people to drive cars.

6. What's your favorite restaurant?
Lao Zhi Qing Restaurant, but it is too noisy.

7. Compared with other big cities in China, what do you think are the differences between Xiamen and them?
Xiamen is not as polluted or crowded.

8. What's the last great book you read?
It's "The Bicycle", written by Lance Armstrong. It is an autobiography about the author fighting against cancer and how he won "Tour de France" 6 times.

9. What's your favorite quotation or piece of advice?
" Carpe diem"-Live for today, life is short.