UK: Introducing Falun Gong at a Festival in Glasgow

As the biggest city in Scotland, Glasgow holds an annual festival and invites different ethnic groups to participate in the activities to display the cultural diversity of Glasgow. This year Falun Gong was invited to take part in the festival, being symbolic of Chinese culture.

On Saturday June the 12th, Falun Gong practitioners gave a talk and demonstrated exercises in the city library. Practitioners hung a banner reading "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" on the wall and prepared information leaflets and Video-CDs on Falun Gong. Practitioners demonstrated the five Falun Gong exercises to music with one of the practitioners introducing the history and features of the practice. Apart from the Dafa music and the practitioner's introduction, no other sound was heard.

After the exercise demonstration, practitioners answered questions raised by the audience. When asked why he practised Falun Gong, one of the practitioners said, "The world needs Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. People think that an individual is unable to change the world. However, if one person lives his life according to the teaching of Falun Gong and searches within himself when encountering trouble instead of blaming others, then the surroundings around him will be improved. If everyone behaves this way, then our city, our country or even the whole world will become more wonderful. This is why I want to practise Falun Gong." Originally the time limit for discussion was one hour. But because of the enthusiastic audience, the discussion lasted longer. Fortunately, the librarian did not mind and praised us for the wonderful effect of our talk. Afterwards, many of the audience came to enquire about the whereabouts of our practice sites.

Meanwhile, practitioners outside the library used the Chinese army's invitation to the Edinburgh Military Tattoo to let passers-by learn the facts about Falun Gong. Many people knew something about China's worrisome human rights situation and expressed their opposition to the Chinese Tattoo invitation by signing our petition. One such person was a Scottish MP who happened to be passing by.

On Sunday June the 13th, the Glasgow Festival Parade was held and the streets bustled with noise and excitement. Because local practitioners had already explained the facts to those in charge of the festival, staff came up with some very good ideas for us and had the Falun Gong stand arranged at the best location. They also offered us plenty of space for the exercise demonstration.

When practitioners began demonstrating the exercises, passers-by came gathered to watch quietly. At the same time, one of the practitioners explained how people who practise such a peaceful and harmonious cultivation method came to be subjected to brutal persecution in China. A six-year-old girl had been sitting on the ground attentively watching our demonstration for a long time. Her father had asked her to leave several times, but she was unwilling to leave and kept on watching the exercises. Numerous viewers stood in circles around the practitioners; when one group of viewers left, another group would come asking for Dafa leaflets. One lady told the practitioners, "This is very beautiful. I am almost moved to tears."

There were also plenty of visitors around the Falun Dafa display and information stand. Many of them had heard from newspapers and TV that Jiang's army, which is involved in human rights violations, was invited to the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. After seeing our posters, they came to sign their names to express their opposition. In just a few hours, more than four hundred people signed the petition.

Practitioners came from different cities in Scotland and England to participate in the activities and introduce Dafa, expose the evil persecution and let the Scottish people learn the facts. Though there was no deliberate planning, everyone coordinated well to distribute Dafa materials, demonstrate the exercises, take care of the stand and answer questions.