Australia: The Divine Land Marching Band Leads the Falun Gong New Year Parade in Melbourne

On Saturday afternoon of January 3rd, 2009, about 1,000 Australia Falun Gong practitioners gathered and held a parade in downtown Melbourne. The parade, part of the activities before the annual Australia Falun Dafa Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference, caught the attention of many passersby.

On January 3rd, the sunshine brought back the warmth of summertime after cool and rainy New Year holidays.

The Parade in Melbourne - The Capital of Humanities in Australia

The parade moved slowly through the busy downtown streets, showcasing the goodness of Falun Dafa and revealing the facts about the 9-year persecution of Falun Gong by the Chinese Communist Party and the wave of quitting the CCP inspired by the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party. Many people were drawn to the parade, and many captured this historic moment with their cameras and video recorders.

Leading the parade was the Divine Land Marching Band, composed of over 100 members from Sydney and Melbourne. The powerful music resounded throughout the area and attracted an audience. The people that stopped to watch did not leave until the Waist Drum Team's joyous performance, the finale of the parade, disappeared in the distance.

A couple who just arrived in Australia from Shanghai, China stood on the roadside and watched the parade. Mr. Liu read the messages on the banners in the parade carefully. He said, "We can't see such a parade and banners in China. It's impossible.

We just came from China and we don't know much about Falun Gong. We only heard of Falun Gong when the Chinese Communist Party started its anti-Falun Gong propaganda in China in 1999. We don't know anyone who practises Falun Gong so we don't know much about it. However, now that we are in a free environment, we will try to learn more about Falun Gong. Before we just heard about the persecution, but now we have a chance to know more. We did not realise that there are so many people practising Falun Gong abroad."

Standing next to the couple was Mr. Wang, who had also just moved to Australia three months ago. He said that this was the first time he saw a Falun Gong parade. He was amazed that there were so many features and so many people in the parade. He admired that a Chinese group could hold a parade on such a large scale. When he was in China, he could only access Chinese Communist Party's propaganda. After he came to Australia, he had a chance to read The Epoch Times, and the Nine Commentaries, which helped him understand the truth about Falun Gong and the CCP's persecution. He would continue to pay attention to the issue. He told the reporter that before he came to Australia, the 610 Office questioned him as to whether he practised Falun Gong. He knew that in China, anyone would be arrested and imprisoned if he was known to practise Falun Gong.

Mr. Wu, a Chinese medical doctor in Chinatown said that the Chinese Communist Party has been spurned by Chinese people, and this can be seen from the numerous protests in mainland China. He said, "A good example is Yang Jia's case. People who supported Yang Jia, shouted 'Down with the Communist Party' outside the court. This is unprecedented."

Impressed by the large scale of the parade, he said, "Persistence is invaluable; what you have done will not be in vain. The Nine Commentaries is great; Chinese people are awakening."

Leo stopped and got out of his car to watch the parade. He said such activities were very helpful to raise the public awareness. Before he left, he shouted, "Good luck!" to the Falun Gong practitioners.

John, 64, is from New Zealand and has been living in Australia for 30 years. He watched the parade silently with a serious expression. He said, "I sincerely hope that the parade will help the Australian government do something about it. It is so sad that this persecution is happening."

In front of a store, Eva, a Melbourne local, applauded to the parade. She said, "How wonderful these people are! I am so sad about the persecution."

Anna told the reporter, "I support Falun Gong, and understood a little about Falun Gong before. After watching the parade, I want to learn more about Falun Gong. The band in the front of the parade is so great, with great momentum. This is the first time I saw a marching band with so many members." She took some flyers from a parade participant and she planned to study the materials to learn more about Falun Gong.