Greece: Promoting Falun Gong During the Olympic Games in Athens (1)

Lotus flowers everywhere

On August the 11th 2004, Falun Gong practitioners were the only group of people permitted to hold a large-scale parade through Athens' city centre. The parade's destination was Constitution Square in the heart of Athens. A practitioner described the striking and beautiful scene as the female practitioners wearing white stood behind the drumming team in golden exercise suits and started to do the exercises."

You are welcome!

Located in front of the Greek Parliament in the centre of Athens, Constitution Square is one of the busiest places in the city. Many practitioners have been coming here every day to distribute leaflets and let people know about Falun Gong. On August the 11th, they stood in a convenient place and demonstrated the exercises. At the other end of the Square, practitioners from Taiwan performed dances and played instruments while local practitioners introduced Falun Dafa and talked about the persecution. A crowd of interested onlookers soon developed.

After 8pm in the evening, it began to cool down and people took more time to stay and watch the exercise demonstration and talk to the practitioners who were distributing leaflets. Some passersby who had seen the parade on the 11th of August already had a good impression of Falun Gong. A Greek lady sighed, “Falun Gong practitioners are all very peaceful. It would be great if everyone was as peaceful as them.” At times, when local people passed, they would give a thumbs up and hearty shout, “You are welcome!”

During this recent period of introducing Falun Dafa in Greece, every day our leaflets disappeared very quickly. The local people of Athens seem very interested in Dafa. People came to ask for details of local exercise classes without hesitation and one lady even learned the exercises on the spot.

Focus on Falun Gong

As well as visitors and local people passing through the Square, reporters from all over the world came to get good shots of the scenery in Athens during breaks from their Olympic Games. The peaceful Dafa music accompanying the graceful and harmonious exercises attracted the reporters’ attention. The exercise demonstration and performance of practitioners also became a focal point for their cameras.