Jacky Cheung celebrates ‘half century’ birthday in Nanning, China

Today is Jacky's birthday (well, technically yesterday if you go by Hong Kong time), so of course, I can't pass up the opportunity to send my idol well wishes for his birthday. What makes this particular birthday a special one is that Jacky is turning 50 -- definitely a milestone for him as well as for long-time fans such as myself.

To celebrate, I decided to translate/post this article from Mingpao that talks about Jacky's latest show in Nanning, Guangxi, China and how the fans there celebrated the happy event. Enjoy!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JACKY!!

********

Jacky Cheung celebrates ‘half century’ birthday in Nanning, China

Article originally published:  July 10th, 2011
Source:  Mingpao, Sohu.com

Translated by:  llwy12

Today [July 10th] is “God of Songs” Jacky Cheung’s 50th birthday. Two days ago, after completing the 65th show of his World Tour concert in Nanning, China, Jacky rushed home to Hong Kong so he could celebrate on the official day with his family.

The weather in Nanning 2 days ago was as high as 36 degrees Celsius and the concert was held in an outdoor arena with an audience of 50,000 people – despite already being drenched in sweat from the heat, Jacky continued to put 100% effort into his performance on stage, dancing and singing in thick, heavy outfits. Jacky expressed that this particular performance in Nanning can be considered the most difficult one for him on his Concert Tour so far, as the weather was so hot that he felt like he was suffocating from lack of oxygen. Jacky jokingly stated that he felt as though he was ‘showering’ on stage, as he was dripping from head to toe with sweat [from the heat as well as from all the dancing].

Despite the difficulty of the performance, Jacky was sincerely moved by the passionate enthusiasm of his fans in Nanning – since the fans attending that show knew that Jacky’s birthday was coming up in a few days, they arranged a special ‘gift’ for him. During the last segment of the show, when Jacky was getting ready to sing the final song “Blessing”, the entire audience of 50,000 shouted out “Happy Birthday”, then sang him the birthday song in unison – Jacky was extremely overjoyed!

Right after the show, Jacky’s concert manager Florence Chan and the rest of the concert crew arranged a special ‘early’ birthday celebration for Jacky – wishing to share the moment with everyone, Jacky also invited the rest of the crew who also had birthdays in July to come on stage and celebrate with him. Asked about his birthday wish, Jacky indicated that he hoped for good health and peace for everyone. In addition, as a birthday ‘gift’ for himself, Jacky will be taking one month off to rest for the summer, as his next show won’t be until August, when he will be resuming his concert Tour at the Taipei Arena in Taiwan. [TN: The exact dates of the Taiwan leg of Jacky’s concert tour will be August 18th to 21st]