(Clearwisdom.net) The Thirtieth Annual Chinese New Year Celebration was held on Saturday, February 12, 2011, in the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania. It was also “World Culture Day” co-hosted by the museum and PECO Energy Company. It happened that an exhibition called “The Secret of Silk Road” had recently been held in the museum, and there were many visitors in the museum that day. Falun Gong practitioners held a variety of activities, which drew great attention from the holiday-goers.
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The celebration featured music and dance performances, Chinese calligraphy, martial arts demonstrations, games, workshops, children's activities, and grand opening and grand finale lion dance performances, from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.. A brief introduction to Falun Gong, Falun Gong exercise demonstration, and Minghui School students' dance performances added richness to the display of traditional Chinese culture.
Falun Gong practitioners' 30-minute exercise demonstration drew the attention of more than two dozen people. Many people showed interest in the peaceful and calm atmosphere during the exercise demonstration. About ten people learned the practice during the event.
Mr. Pete Cicero, together with his wife Jackie and son Chris, came to learn Falun Gong. Chris said that the simple movements made him relaxed all over. His mother said that she was hot all over. The whole family was happy to learn that they can get access to free exercise instruction materials from the Internet. They wanted to learn more about Falun Gong. They were surprised to learn that Falun Gong practitioners were being brutally persecuted in China. Mr. Pete Cicero, who is of Italian descent, said that the practitioners can practice here freely, but cannot practice Falun Gong in their home country, and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is just as shameful as Mussolini.
Philadelphia resident Ms. Joyel Washington has practiced yoga for 15 years, and also practiced Taichi and qigong. She attentively watched practitioners doing the exercises. She said that she had heard about Falun Gong, but had no idea what it was about. She said she wanted to find out more about it.
The guard at the museum quietly watched the Falun Gong exercise demonstration, and showed great interest. He wanted to learn it in order to ease his stress. When he learned that Falun Gong exercise instruction was free of charge, and he could download the Falun Gong exercise videos and Master Li Hongzhi's book Zhuan Falun for free from the website, he was surprised and asked, “Is there such a great Master? How can he not charge people for these materials? Where can we find such a good person right now?” He repeatedly said that he was fortunate to learn about Falun Gong.
Young Minghui School practitioners performed classical Chinese dances, including Tribute to the Holy Lotus, and the Ribbon Dance, bringing good messages of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to more than 200 audience members. During the 30-minute dance performance, the auditorium echoed beautiful music and the song, “Falun Dafa is Great” composed by Falun Dafa practitioners.
It has been 13 years since Falun Gong practitioners first participated in the Chinese New Year Celebration at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in 1999. Many booth owners have been familiar with Falun Gong for some time, and have learned that Falun Gong has been widely spread around the world and is only persecuted in China, by the CCP.
Two Chinese students who recently came from China to study at the university stopped in front of the Falun Gong booth. The girl said that they could not see these things inside China. She said her aunt had practiced Falun Gong before the persecution started. The two students took the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party and said they would read it and learn more. A man who came from China to visit relatives said that he was clear about the CCP's wickedness because he has lived more than half of his lifetime under its evil rule. Upon learning that many Falun Gong practitioners have been subjected to the CCP's persecution and many are still imprisoned, many visitors asked, “What can I do for you?” Many people signed a petition calling for an end to the persecution.
