United Kingdom: Promoting Falun Gong in the Coastal Town of Plymouth

On 17 October 2009, Plymouth, a coastal city in the UK, held its annual “Food Festival”. Falun Dafa practitioners held an activity during the festival to let people know more about Falun Dafa and the human rights abuses that practitioners in China are subjected to by the Chinese Communist Party.

A practitioner hands out leaflets	Demonstrating the Falun Gong meditation

It was a nice autumn day with bright sunshine. The practitioners set up an information desk and provided passers by with leaflets, paper lotus flowers and other materials in both Chinese and English. Passers by signed a petition calling for an end the persecution. Banners and posters were hanging on the both sides of the desk explaining how Falun Dafa has spread all over the world and detailing the brutal persecution of Falun Gong by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime.

It was a Saturday and the Food Festival was crowded. Passers by were happy to take leaflets and find out more. A middle-aged man told a practitioner that he had read the Falun Gong leaflet and he supported practitioners’ efforts to raise awareness.

Many tourists asked questions about Falun Gong after reading the posters. They signed the petition when they learned about the persecution. A couple had a long talk with a practitioner and said that the human rights abuses against Falun Gong practitioners remind them of other atrocities committed by communist regimes, such as in Vietnam.

Many Chinese found out the truth about Falun Gong in front of the information desk and took copies of Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party. A Chinese lady asked for many leaflets and DVDs. Her father was an officer of the Kuomintang army and he took the whole family to Indonesia to escape from the suppression of the Communist Party. Later the family had moved from place to place before settling down in the UK for 40 years. She wanted to know more about the current situation in China and the human rights abuses the CCP have waged against Chinese people over the past decades.

When meeting the Chinese students and tourists, the practitioners encouraged them to quit the Chinese Communist Party and its affiliated organisations. Ms Liang had learned bit about Falun Gong before. She wanted to know more and find out where she could learn to practise Falun Gong.

The practitioners demonstrated the five sets of Falun Gong exercises. The beautiful music and the relaxing movements attracted many passers by to watch and take pictures. Until the exercise demonstration finished, the audience stood transfixed and seemed to not want to leave.