(Minghui.org) The first weekend of 2019 was warm on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and posters and banners displayed by Falun Dafa practitioners caught the attention of passersby. Many tourists stopped for more information about the peaceful meditation practice and some began to learn the exercises.

Falun Dafa practitioners doing the exercises on the National Mall in Washington D.C. on January 6, 2019.

Sharing with Others

Mustafa first saw practitioners doing the exercises at the National Mall about six years ago. He later began to do the exercises and likes the practice very much. “Falun Dafa gives me great health,” he remarked.

Thinking that the exercises would also be of great benefit to others, he recommended them to his family in Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa. One of his brothers who had been a vice president in the country and a diplomat in China now often does the Falun Dafa exercises at home and has even done so in China. Mustafa's sister, an officer with the World Health Organization, is also aware of the health and spiritual benefits of Falun Dafa.

These experiences motivated Mustafa to share information about the practice with more people. He has distributed a lot of materials over the past few years to pedestrians near the National Mall.

Passersby read posters about Falun Dafa and the fact that it is being suppressed in China.

A tourist (right) learns the exercises.

Learning the Facts

Mr. Zhang of Rockville, Maryland, often comes to the National Mall to ride his bike to keep fit. After observing that so many practitioners come to the National Mall all year round to do the Falun Dafa exercises, he was impressed by their perseverance and also curious as to why they would come even when it is so cold.

He was riding past last Sunday when he stopped and chatted with a practitioner for a long time. The practitioner answered his questions and explained how Falun Dafa benefits people and society and why the Communist Party suppressed the peaceful practice.

Bike rider Mr. Zhang talks with a practitioner.

After hearing about how the Communist Party had made up many lies to defame Falun Dafa, including the staged self-immolation at Tiananmen Square in 2001, Mr. Zhang was shocked. He was also surprised to hear that the practitioner he was speaking with had been detained in China for three and a half years for her belief.

Mr. Zhang took Falun Dafa materials and said that he would read them and reevaluate things, as he had previously only heard the hate propaganda from the Communist Party.

Biggest Achievement

The recent federal government shutdown has affected the number of tourists in Washington, D.C., because the museums were closed. “But there are still a large number of people passing through here every day,” said Ms. Wang Chunrong, a practitioner who volunteers at the National Mall, “Some Chinese tourists are among them. Due to the Communist Party's brainwashing, many of them have been misled and are hostile towards the practice. I have to tell them what is really going on,” she explained.

A tourist from Beijing had talked with Ms. Wang for quite a while a few days earlier. After hearing how Zhuan Falun, the main book of Falun Dafa, had improved Ms. Wang's moral character, the young man was intrigued. “Talking with you and getting to know about Falun Dafa is the biggest achievement during my trip,” he said, “I think I will definitely give the practice a try.”