United Kingdom: More of London's Chinese Tourists Now Ask, “What Is Falun Gong and Why Is It Being Persecuted?”

Many tourists and students from China who visit London's St. Martin Square are often shocked to see foreigners doing the Falun Gong exercises. "Look, foreigners are practising Falun Gong!" they exclaim. They usually slow down to watch, seemingly absorbed in the practitioners' peaceful and righteous field.

During the recent months in Chinatown and St. Martin Square in central London, Chinese passersby appear more willing to engage in conversations with Falun Gong practitioners.

Practitioners demonstrate Falun Gong exercises in Chinatown, London	Practitioners do the sitting meditation in St. Martin Square
Chinese students read practitioners' informational posters	Tilly Nesbitt, a British practitioner, demonstrates the Falun Gong exercises

Falun Gong, which originated in China but has been severely persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999, is also known as Falun Dafa.

Practitioners' banner with the words, “Falun Dafa has spread widely in the world,” continues to attract the attention of people from mainland China. They carefully look at the banner and the photos from over 100 countries around the world where Falun Dafa is practised freely today.

Change in the Air
Two students who had just arrived in the United Kingdom from China were overheard saying, “What principles do Falun Gong practitioners adhere to? It must be benefiting people, or else why are there so many people practicing it?”

A few years ago, people from China often looked at Falun Gong with a very indifferent attitude. Now, more and more Chinese people are asking, “What is Falun Gong and why is it being persecuted?” Many tourists slow down and take photos of practitioners doing the exercises or speaking to passersby.

Recently, four Chinese students stared intently at several practitioners who were doing the Falun Gong exercises. It was as if the students were captivated by the peace and serenity emanating from the practitioners' faces. Most of these students accepted the informational fliers distributed by fellow practitioners.

Two other students from China stopped to read the practitioners' informational posters on St. Martin Square. A practitioner started to talk with one of them, encouraging her to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations, in order to symbolically separate herself from the crimes against humanity committed by the CCP.

The girl's boyfriend quietly stood in front of one of the practitioners who were doing the exercises. Another practitioner walked up to him and told him how Falun Dafa has spread widely in the world and how the CCP has defamed the practice in China. Both the boy and the girl agreed to quit the Young Pioneers, a CCP youth league.

A Chinese practitioner told a British practitioner, Tilly Nesbitt, that a young student from China had carefully watched her doing the exercises.

“What would you have said to him, if you had the opportunity to talk to him?” the practitioner asked Tilly.

“I love Chinese traditional culture, and I want to help the Chinese people realize what Falun Gong is, because it contains the essence of Chinese traditional culture,” Tilly replied.