A Columbus Day parade was held in San Francisco October 9th. This Italian-American holiday event has 137 years of history. This year, 150 groups participated in the event including Falun Gong, the only group representing Chinese culture. The organiser welcomed Falun Gong to come again next time.
It was a bright sunny day in San Francisco with a fresh breeze. In order to celebrate Columbus Day, the city government permitted local Italian restaurants to move their tables out so the tourists could enjoy delicious Italian Food while watching the parade. Year after year, this has been a something to look forward to on Columbus Day.
The parade started from Fisherman's Wharf, along Columbus Parkway, through Italian Town and China Town, finishing at Washington Plaza. It usually has a few hundred thousand spectators and is one of the larger parades in northern California
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| The Falun Gong parade group | Waist Drum Performance |
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| Heavenly Maiden Dance | |
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| Enthusiastic spectators |
The organiser stated that they invited groups from all nationalities to celebrate the traditional Italian festival.
As the only group to represent Chinese culture, the Falun Gong entry was very eye-catching. Some practitioners wore golden yellow exercise suits, some wore heavenly maiden costumes, and there was also a waist drum group.
When Falun Gong group arrived at the stage, the host first introduced Falun Gong in the microphone. Then he said, "Let's welcome Falun Gong to come again next year!" The nearby spectators gave Falun Gong a warm applause.
Falun Gong was invited to the event for the past two years and won awards every time. This year, an invitation hadn't come two weeks before the parade, so a practitioner called the organisers to enquire about it. The invitation was mailed soon after.
Before the parade started, one of the organisers at the stage answered question about why the invitation to Falun Gong was late. He said, "We invited Falun Gong. They will definitely be in the parade." Later he explained that a few individuals had some concern because the Chinese government said Falun Gong was doing politics, but they were clear that it was not like what Chinese government said.
To sustain the persecution of Falun Gong, the Chinese Communist Party has spread lies overseas. The Chinese Consulate in San Francisco has done many bad deeds, including buying support from people in favour of the CCP, spreading lies about Falun Gong, instigating hatred and deceiving people to misunderstand Falun Gong.
However, in the face of practitioners' persistent truth clarification during the six year long persecution, more and more people now understand the truth, and Falun Gong has become more popular.
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