On the evening of February 7, 2004, nearly 200 Falun Gong practitioners participated in the San Francisco New Year Celebration to display the beauty of Falun Dafa to the local people. FOX TV station and KTSF Chinese TV station broadcast the event live to millions of viewers. The spectators said, "I didn't know there were so many people practising Falun Gong, your group is really spectacular."
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Practitioners in parade
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| Float | Fairy dance | ||
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According to the organiser of the parade, the San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade is recognised as one of the ten grand parades in the world, and also the largest parade in North California. 500,000 people watched the parade on the spot and 3 million viewers watched the parade through live broadcast. FOX TV station rebroadcast the parade the following day.
It was the first time that Falun Gong practitioners participated in the San Francisco Chinese New Year Grand Parade, and they attracted great attention. While practitioners were rehearsing at the start of parade, many media outlets surrounded the practitioners and took photos. During the parade, the Falun Gong group received a warm welcome. There were seven fairies dance, colour lantern dance, fan dance, drummers' group and a float. The peaceful music, bright and colourful costumes and graceful dances constantly won applause from the spectators. The spectators saw Falun Gong practitioners' peaceful demeanour through exercise demonstrations on the float, and banners reading "Falun Dafa is Great," "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance” and "The world needs 'Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance'."
When the practitioners' group passed by the presiding stage, the host introduced that the basic principle of Falun Dafa is "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance." Since 1992, when Falun Dafa was introduced to the public, it has become a quite popular Qigong cultivation practice. The host also introduced that it rained during the past few years' parades, but this year, the weather was extremely fine.
Renowned hostess Julie Haener at the FOX TV station, introduced Falun Gong to the TV viewers while the Falun Gong contingent passed by the presiding stage, saying that Falun Dafa practitioners bring health and inner peace to hundreds of thousands of people around the world. Falun Dafa is an ancient Qigong cultivation practice, slow movements and meditation can strengthen your health, and purify your soul. Dancers happily danced with colourful ribbons in their hands. They danced to the music 'Pu Du.' The meaning of 'Pu Du' is to save sentient beings widely.
Some spectators saw our group, and held high their hands and shouted, "Falun Dafa is great." Some people waved to us and then pressed their hands together in front of their chests to show respect. Some people couldn't help humming the tune upon hearing the music of Pu Du. Some other people saw the practitioners demonstrating the exercises on the float and then followed them to practise.
When the parade concluded, a Chinese lady walked up to the practitioners and said to them, "I didn't know there were so many people practising Falun Gong. Your group is great. I think you are the most beautiful group in the parade." She asked a practitioner, "Is your dancing group invited? Those headgear, costumes, lanterns and float are so beautiful. You must have spent a lot of money."
When the practitioner told her all dancers are Falun Gong practitioners, she said, "They danced so conscientiously and so well." The practitioners also told her that in order to bring the wonderfulness of Falun Dafa to the audience, practitioners used their own money to buy costumes, and many other practitioners spent their time after work hand making the costumes. The practitioners also decked the fans with lights, beads and handmade their headgears. Many practitioners spent a lot of time making the float.
The lady heard all this and expressed that she hadn't expected that Falun Gong practitioners would be so different from what the media from Mainland China propagates. She also asked where she could find a practice site.
The practitioner expressed that San Francisco is where the Jiang regime takes great pains to control. Through the Chinese Consulate, they exerted pressure on local officials and officials in nearby cities. They also bought off the local community associations, and threatened local Chinese media to blatantly spread lies to slander Falun Gong. Former Consul General Wang Yunxiang spread untrue words against Falun Gong numerous times on TV and other media to poison the minds of Chinese people. Practitioners' applications for participating in the parade in previous years were all rejected. This time, practitioners' application was approved. This resulted from practitioners' constant truth clarification to the governments of different levels and Chinese communities, so that more and more people gained a positive understanding of Falun Gong. In addition, Falun Gong practitioners from cities in the Bay Area also participated in local parades and community activities, leaving a good impression on the organisers and communities. Many cities invited practitioners to participate in their activities in the future. It is proof that lies will be exposed and more and more people will understand "Falun Dafa is great."
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