“Is This Falun Gong?” Chinese Visitors Gain Different Perspective in Hong Kong (Photos)

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July 24, 2014 | By Minghui correspondent Zheng Yuyan

(Minghui.org) “Excuse me, is this Falun Gong?” A man in his twenties asked a Falun Gong practitioner on Golden Bauhinia Square in Hong Kong.

The practitioner nodded.

“Really? All these people are Falun Gong practitioners?”

The young man couldn’t believe his eyes, nor could the two young women who were with him.

One exclaimed, “It is Falun Gong! It turns out that they can practice Falun Gong in Hong Kong, but not in China!”

“I thought Falun Gong disappeared. I can’t believe that they are allowed in Hong Kong. Why can’t they practice in China?” questioned another.

This conversation occurred during Falun Gong practitioners' grand march in downtown Kowloon, Hong Kong on July 20. The gathering was held to call for an end to the 15-year brutal persecution of Falun Gong in China and to bring the chief culprits to justice.

Seeing the parade helped this young man from Beijing gain a new perspective. He said that he was amazed, and couldn’t believe how peaceful the march was. “The practitioners look very different from what the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) described in the propaganda that I heard back in high school. Now I see that many people in Hong Kong, including Westerners, support Falun Gong. We have a lot to think about here.”

On July 20, 1999, Jiang Zemin, then-head of the Chinese Communist Party, launched the nationwide, systematic persecution of Falun Gong. For the past 15 years, every year around July 20, Falun Gong practitioners throughout the world hold activities to peacefully protest the 15-year persecution and commemorate the thousands who have died in the persecution.

Falun Gong practitioners in Hong Kong hold a march on July 20, 2014 to protest the 15-year persecution in China.

Hundreds of practitioners demonstrate the exercises at Golden Bauhinia Square in Wan Chai on the morning on July 20.

On the morning of July 20, hundreds of Falun Gong practitioners wearing yellow shirts emblazoned with “Falun Dafa is good” gathered at Golden Bauhinia Square in the Wan Chai district of Hong Kong. Through a large scale exercise demonstration, they showed spectators a glimpse into the beauty of Falun Gong.

The serene exercise music and the practitioners’ elegant, slow and harmonious movements drew the attention of tourists and local residents alike. Many spectators took pictures.

Spectators take pictures of Falun Gong practitioners doing the exercises.

The march drew the attention of tourists and local residents.

Different components of the parade showcased the practice of Falun Gong and exposed the ongoing persecution in China. The practitioners held banners with messages calling for an end to the persecution, quitting the CCP and its affiliated organizations, and sharing the benefits of the practice.

Between the processions were celestial maiden dancers, a beautiful boat-shaped float, a large model of the book Zhuan Falun, the exercise demonstration group, the flag and drum team, and the waist drum team.

The Falun Dafa Divine Land Marching Band led the parade with their majestic music. The three-hour parade wound through the busiest parts of Hong Kong. Many people stopped to watch, take pictures and cheer for the practitioners.

Banners expose the CCP’s brutal persecution.

Falun Gong practitioners hold banners telling those who persecute Falun Gong that their wrongdoing will be punished.

Falun Gong practitioners show support for the 170 million Chinese people who have quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. During the Hong Kong parade, many Chinese tourists quit the CCP.