At age 16, Zeng was measured at 240 cm (7 ft 10.5 in) and weighed 147 kg (324 lbs) during a routine medical check for her diabetes and only months later within the same year, she overtook then-record holder Jane Bunford in height.
While she and her family mostly subsisted off of fish from the nearby lake, Zeng reportedly ate 20 dumplings for breakfast and six bowls of rice with vegetables for dinner each day, consuming around 500 kg (1102 lbs) of food each year.
[3] Zeng was generally described as being shy and reserved, but noted to have a passion for literature such as magazines and detective novels, as well as sports, particularly basketball, though she eventually stopped due to developing scoliosis related to her increasing height.
To accommodate her great height, Zeng's family were contracted with local tailors and factories to manufacture several of her items custom-made, including her shirts, pants, shoes, chairs and bed, which measured 274 cm (9 ft) in length.
In interviews, Zeng voiced her appreciation for her friends and neighbors for treating her kindly and commented that despite her fame, she did not intend to leave her rural home county and planned to stay in the countryside for the rest of her life.