Russia: To Celebrate the 300th Birthday of St. Petersburg, Dafa Practitioners gave a Performance in the City Centre

On June 8 2003, Russian Falun Dafa practitioners gave a performance in Nevsky Street in St. Petersburg to celebrate the 300th birthday of the city. At the same time, a street exhibition was held of Dafa practitioner Zhang Cuiying’s traditional Chinese paintings.

Dafa practitioners’ participation in the city-wide, large-scale celebration activity on May 25 was cancelled after enormous pressure was put on the Russian government by the Chinese authorities. However, practitioners explained the truth to them and this activity was finally approved.

Although rain was forecast the day started with bright sunshine. Banners reading “Falun Dafa” and “Truthfulness, Benevolence, Forbearance” waved in a light breeze in the centre of the old town. To prepare for this activity, practitioners made beautiful and graceful Chinese classic costumes, as well as bouquets of holly and lotus flowers. They also choreographed their own dances. The pure and graceful performances, accompanied by music written by Dafa practitioners, deeply moved the audience. After the dance, another team of Dafa practitioners wearing sky blue and golden yellow costumes demonstrated the Falun Gong exercises. The Chinese lion masks made by practitioners showed smiling faces and added a joyful atmosphere to the festival in the old town. One Dafa practitioner wore the traditional costume of an ancient Russian emperor called “Peter the Great” to wish the citizens of St. Petersburg a bright future.

At the same time, the street exhibition of Zhang Cuiying’s paintings attracted a lot of attention. In the exhibition, groups of people realised the truth about Falun Gong after hearing about the artist’s enthralling experiences. Among the crowds, there were many Chinese tourists and students who watched Falun Gong practitioners’ performance and showed surprise at the beauty of the movements. Practitioners went over and talked with them about the truth behind Jiang’s brutal persecution. One young lady was deeply influenced by the Jiang regime’s lies. She couldn’t believe that the people in front of her were Dafa practitioners. One practitioner talked to her for two hours. Her tension, fear, and doubt disappeared. She became a new person. This was a touching moment for everyone. The 3-hour performance ended too soon.