Hong Kong veteran singer Hacken Lee endured an 18-hour travel nightmare before finally making it to the stage in Inner Mongolia — only to perform six songs at 12.30am after going without food or a toilet break for hours.
Lee was due to appear as the finale guest at an all-star concert in Baotou on Saturday (Sep 26), but a series of travel mishaps left him scrambling to reach the venue.
The singer had left Hong Kong at 6am and was supposed to fly from Shenzhen to Xuzhou before connecting to Hohhot. But bad weather forced his flight to make an emergency landing in Taiyuan, Shanxi.
By around 5pm, Lee switched to road transport in a desperate attempt to reach the venue on time. Things then went from bad to worse.
The electric vehicle arranged by the organizers reportedly ran out of power after about two hours on the road, forcing Lee to abandon it and hail a taxi.
While Lee was still on his way, mainland singer Hou Lang, who had been watching from the audience, was called up to fill in. He reportedly kept the crowd entertained for around two hours after the other five singers, including Priscilla Chan Wai-han, had finished their performances.
Lee finally appeared on stage at around 12.30am, nearly two hours later than scheduled.
“I finally made it!” Lee said, before revealing that he had not eaten all day and had been holding in his urine since 5pm because he had no time to use the toilet.
He then repeatedly bowed to the audience and apologized, reportedly saying “sorry” nine times.
Despite the late hour and exhausting journey, Lee launched straight into six of his classic hits and maintained his performance.
The unusual ordeal quickly sparked discussion online.
Some fans sympathized with Lee, saying the weather and transport problems were beyond his control, while others criticized the organizers’ transport arrangements and questioned why an electric vehicle was used for such a long journey.
Some also questioned why Lee had travelled to the city on the day of the concert, with comments asking whether a performer at a 30,000-capacity show should have arrived earlier.
Others defended him, pointing to the unpredictable weather and hail, arguing that the situation was beyond his control.
Would you still stay until 12.30am to see Hacken Lee perform?
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