Falun Gong practitioner Li Qizhong, an Australian citizen, began a 5-day, 500-mile bicycle trek from in front of the Sydney Chinese Consulate at 12:30 pm on December 16, 2002. The purpose of Li's trip was to appeal to the federal and local Australian governments, the media, and his fellow Australian citizens to urge the Australian Foreign Affairs Department to help him deliver a Christmas gift and letter of support to his fiancée, Li Ying. Li Ying is being illegally detained in a labour camp in China for practising Falun Gong.
Li travelled to the south and then headed west, going through the cities of Wollongong, Dapto, Nowra, and Canberra. His final stop was in the city of Albury.
Through his fiancée's experience, Li said that he wanted to let the Australian people recognise more clearly the plight of millions of Falun Gong practitioners in China, and motivate them to care about and help stop this persecution of millions of innocent people. The bicycle trip was part of the international "Rescue Our Families" campaign that began earlier this year.
Australia is a very dry, hot country in the summer. Li began his bicycle trip wearing a yellow T-shirt that read "Help Rescue Our Families." The scorching waves of hot air, steep slopes, and treacherous roads far exceeded his expectations before departure. But thinking of his fiancé and the tens of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners who have been illegally detained and tortured, his pain became nothing in comparison. Li was determined to do his best to tell the Australian people the true situation of Falun Gong and the persecution and help rescue his beloved fiancée.
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