Taiwan: Falun Gong at Taipei's Health and Life Expo

Invited by the sponsor of "2003 Health and Life Expo", on December 29, 2003, Falun Gong practitioners had a booth to introduce Falun Gong and demonstrated the exercises onstage in the First Exhibition Hall of Taipei's World Trade Centre.

Falun Gong Exhibition Booth	Falun Gong practitioners were demonstrating five sets of exercises on stage on the morning of December 19.

Five Sets of Exercises

Wu Baihui is a twenty-six-year-old Falun Gong practitioner. He told people that the five sets of exercises keep him energized all day long, even more than sleep does. The temperature on the morning of December 18 was lower than 12º C. It was the coldest morning of the winter. But Wu still got up at 5am and did his exercises in a park as usual. He said, "There are a lot of benefits of doing these exercises. It makes me feel good to do the exercises in the morning when the air is fresh and my mind is clear. That's why I can persist in doing it instead of sleeping in."

Wu is a physical therapist and hears a lot of complaints about pain and unhappiness at work which regularly depressed him. However, after starting to practice Falun Gong he gained better control over his own mood and even sympathizes with and treats his patients better.

Wu also said that a lot of young people in Taiwan practice Falun Gong. There are many Falun Gong practitioners in well-known universities like Taipei University, Cheng-chi University, Tsinghua University and Chiao-Tung University. So another feature of Falun Gong is that it fits all ages. Wu went on to say that when people who practice Falun Gong get together, they talk about how to improve their character instead of complaining to each other, in other words how to become better, more morally conscious people. It is a very pleasant and uplifting atmosphere.

Flower-Arrangement Teacher Said "Good-Bye" to Her "Phobia"

Zheng Yongru, a teacher of the art of flower arrangement, also participated in this activity. She was diagnosed as having a "phobia" fifteen years ago. Due to her poor health since childhood, she used to worry about sudden loses of consciousness. Her long-time worry and panic made her sick. At her worst time, she was afraid of going out or taking buses by herself. She had to find a companion to go across streets and she always wanted to escape any crowd.

She suffered terribly. She saw all kinds of doctors and practiced Tai Chi for a few years but still had no luck. Things began to change when she began to practice Falun Gong following her friend's recommendation.

Zheng said when she started to learn Falun Gong, the most striking thing to her was that it teaches people to look at their own heart during conflicts. She found Falun Gong to be an extraordinary type of Qigong and decided to continue. Her phobia was dramatically reduced after three months. "It is the power of cultivation." She said.

Her story was reported. Many patients of phobia called her and asked how their phobias could be cured. Zheng told them, "The book ' Zhuan FalunZhuan Falun' says, "matter and mind are one thing". Her understanding of this was that thoughts are also of material existence. When you think good thoughts, there will be less bad materials in your body and you will feel relaxed and happy."

Zheng emphasized that Falun Gong is for cultivating the heart and mind rather than curing disease, though it is good for health. Health improvement can only be accomplished by improving your moral character.

Falun Gong was warmly welcomed at the Health and Life Expo. Mr. Xu, one of the organizers of the expo, said that it was the second year that Falun Gong participated. They received a very positive response last year. All their introduction materials were taken. This year, Falun Gong was invited to the expo and became one of the assisting organizations. He expressed his wish for more people to know this excellent health-and-spirit improving exercise.

Statistics show more than three hundred thousand people practicing Falun Gong in Taiwan. People's overwhelming response is that Falun Gong changed their lives completely.