United States: Falun Gong Practitioners in Washington D. C. Celebrate World Falun Dafa Day

On May 13th, 2007, Falun Gong practitioners in Washington D.C. held activities to celebrate World Falun Dafa Day in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

They demonstrated the exercises in the morning, and in the afternoon, performed traditional Chinese dances, songs, and the waist drums. The performances attracted many tourists.

Group exercise

Young practitioners from Minghui School perform traditional Chinese dance

Dragon dance

Tourists are attracted to the performances

Practitioners wish Master a Happy Birthday

Practitioners appreciate Master's salvation and call for the end of persecution

Mr. Chen from Virginia started practising Falun Gong one and a half years ago. He expressed that practitioners' spirit is very precious. He felt fortunate that he has the chance to cultivate Falun Gong and appreciates Master Li's benevolence.

Bjoern is from Germany. He, his Chinese wife and his son live in Virginia. They have cultivated Falun Gong for eight years. He stated that he cherishes this chance and appreciates Master renewing his life.

Dr. Zou Zhiming from Virginia spoke of how Master Li brought happiness to him and his family. Before practising Falun Gong, Dr. Zou had migraines for six years. Unable to work regularly, his company categorised him as "short-term disability." But after practising Falun Gong for six months, his disease was healed.

Dr. Zou went back to China in 1999. He was arrested by the CCP and tortured by the police. On Falun Dafa Day, Dr. Zou called upon people to recognise the evil nature of the CCP. He pointed out that the persecution actually is towards the whole society, because it ruins the most precious things.

People from different countries also practise Falun Dafa

Many practitioners who were at the celebration were from different countries. Nicholas Zifcak, who speaks perfect Chinese, learned about Falun Gong in 2003 when he was in Taiwan. He started cultivating it after he came back to the US. He said in Chinese that Falun Gong gave him good health. After practising Falun Gong, he realised what true cultivation is.

Erik Meltzer is a photo reporter at a TV station in Virginia. He learned about Falun Gong in 2000 on the internet. He said that he obtained peacefulness and good health through cultivating Falun Gong. Erik said that practitioners overcome suffering so that they can conduct such beautiful performances. He hopes that everybody can learn the facts of Falun Gong.

Chitra Devnani and her 14-year old daughter Daksha are from India. She said that she learned the exercises from an American practitioner in 2001 in India. She expressed that Falun Gong is what she had been looking for in her life.

Chitra's whole family practises Falun Gong now. They often go out to spread the Fa. They went to a lot of schools and taught thousands of Indian students the exercises. She said that she will do more so that more Indian people can benefit from Falun Gong.

Pure Hearts

Young practitioners from Minghui School performed traditional Chinese dances and recited Master's poems. Their pure hearted performances touched everybody.

11-year old Emily Huang and 8-year old Wang Zhen performed the dance "Lotus flower." They told this reporter that the lotus flower is the symbol of purity, and they wanted to clarify the facts of Falun Gong.

12-year old Amy Shi performed on the violin. She said: "There are so many children in China whose parents were persecuted to death. I play the violin for them."

People are waking up

Ms. Xu, a practitioner, ran into a lawyer from China when she was passing out flyers in front of the Lincoln Memorial. The lawyer is Mr. Gao Zhisheng's friend. He said that he saw Falun Gong practitioners everywhere in the world. He said: "My heart is with you."

Janis McEvory, a tourist, enjoyed practitioners' performance and took a lot of photos. She said that she heard about Falun Gong. She knows about the persecution and said that everybody should help those who are being persecuted. She expressed that practitioners face a persecution not unlike that of the Christians in Roman times. She said that the American Government should not put business at the highest priority when dealing with the Chinese Government.

Prof. Sen Nieh, a practitioner, said: "Falun Gong practitioners overcome many difficulties and sufferings. The spirits they manifest are waking up many people and winning more and more respect. We believe that more people will stand up to help stop the persecution in the near future."