France: The European 'Divine Land Marching Band' Makes Its Debut in Paris

On December 31st, 2006, the French Falun Gong Association held two grand parades. In the morning, Falun Gong practitioners from various European countries set off from an area that has many Chinese residents, and proceeded along the third district of Paris, another area with many Chinese residents, before arriving at Paris City Hall. In the afternoon, they were invited to participate in the activities of the Paris Parade Festival, which was held in Chantilly, an area famous for tourism and attended by over thirty organisations.

On the morning of the New Year’s Day 2007, Falun Gong practitioners held another grand parade in China Town Paris. In the afternoon, they participated in other activities marking the Paris Parade Festival at the Trocadero, which is near the Eiffel Tower. Through the demonstration of the Falun Gong exercises and the performances of the Divine Land Marching Band, traditional Chinese dances, Tang Dynasty dances and the waist-drum troupe, these Falun Gong practitioners not only showed local residents the magnificence of Falun Gong, but they also brought a happy surprise to them during the festival. In the meantime, they also exposed to local residents the facts about the Chinese communist regime’s cruel persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China.

The European Divine Land Marching Band, consisting of more than one hundred and fifty Falun Gong practitioners from various countries in Europe, was established three months ago and it was the very first time for this band to participate in these two parades. The magnificence of the band’s performance attracted a lot of the audience’s attention.