Roanoke was among the group's stops during their five-day journey to a rally in Washington, D.C.

They are silent, rotating arms and bending wrists in unison. Their movements are precise, but not choppy. Instead, they flow to the sound of gentle Chinese music.

In downtown Roanoke, this exercise, performed either standing or sitting cross-legged, drew only the interest of a few passersby. But if the 11 Falun Gong practitioners who stopped at Lee Plaza Wednesday were in China, they would be arrested, possibly tortured and maybe even killed.

The stop was part of a five-day journey the practitioners are taking from Houston, Texas, to Washington, D.C. They hope to raise awareness of Chinese persecution of Falun Gong, a set of exercises and meditation introduced in 1992 and performed to refine the mind and body. The practice, also called Falun Dafa, is based on an ancient Chinese form of exercise and meditation and has been compared to tai chi. Followers estimate there have been as many as 70 million practitioners in China and about 30 million elsewhere.

This group and six others traveling across the United States will meet today in Washington for a march and rally commemorating the second anniversary of China's ban of the practice, which the government calls a spiritual movement.

Practitioners said Falun Gong is not a religion, but a form of exercise.

"It's similar to American people jogging and running in parks," said Hongyi Pan, a San Antonio practitioner.

But the exercises alarm China, which banned them in 1999 after 10,000 practitioners assembled at government compound in Beijing. The government saw this demonstration as a stand against Communist rule; followers say it was a peaceful attempt to gain recognition. [...]

"He believed there was some force behind the scene, trying to overthrow the country," said Dakun Sun, a Dallas practitioner.

Falun Gong founder Li Hongzhi lives in the United States. On July 5, the U.S. State Department issued a statement saying it was "deeply disturbed" by Falun Gong repression and calling for the end of persecution.

Amy Lee, a former Chinese citizen who is part of the Houston group, has practiced Falun Gong for four years. The exercises she credits with curing her heart condition led to her arrest and beating in Tiananmen Square. She had gone to Beijing at her local government's advice to ask for tolerance.

She said she was beaten unconscious, tortured and brainwashed at several jails and a mental institution. At one point, she was sent to a labor camp and forced to make toys for export 15 hours a day.

"If we refused to work, they would make our cellmates beat us," she said.

The government asked her to choose between Falun Gong and her family.

"I told them, I want both," she said. "I have the right to do both."

But the government forced her to divorce, separating her from her husband and her now 6-year-old daughter, Doudou.

"At the very beginning, I couldn't continue to talk when I gave interviews," Lee said. "I ran to the bathroom and burst into tears. But I knew there were many practitioners who had faced more serious persecution than me and I wanted to help them."

Daniele Wang, a University of Texas student, said she was distraught after her father was arrested in July 1999 for practicing Falun Gong. She last saw him on televised court proceedings in December 1999. Now, she doesn't know where he is.

"When I first heard the news, I just crashed," she said. "Every time I read his letters, I couldn't stop my tears. My father and I are really close friends."

Wang said returning to China after her vocal role in the U.S. Falun Gong movement would endanger her father's life. Instead, she waits for a letter from him. She said the exercises keep her strong.

"I still have the Falun Dafa in my heart," she said. "For 10 years, it has been a part of my life.

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