(Minghui.org) Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, was first made public in Changchun, Jilin Province, China on May 13, 1992, by its founder Mr. Li Hongzhi. This ancient spiritual practice is now practiced in over 100 countries.
Participating in May Day Parade in Port Coquitlam, Canada
Falun Dafa practitioners from Vancouver participated in the May Day Parade in Port Coquitlam, Canada on May 11, 2019. The May Day Parade is a major community event which was first held nearly one hundred years ago. With mild temperatures many people came early and waited for the parade.
Practitioners from Vancouver participate in Port Coquitlam's May Day Parade.
Mayor Brad West (third from left) of the City of Port Coquitlam welcomes practitioners to the day's events.
Mike Farnworth (second from right), a member of the Provincial Parliament of British Columbia.
Fire chief Nick Delmonico, thanked practitioners for bringing traditional Chinese culture to Port Coquitlam.
Nick Delmonico, Port Coquitlam's fire chief, announced the parade's participants. He thanked practitioners for their wonderful contribution to the community, and thanked them for bringing traditional Chinese culture to Port Coquitlam. He said he was very happy to see practitioners continuing to participate in the city's most important event.
Cathy Romeo organizes the May Day Parade's VIP reception.
Ms. Cathy Romeo organizes the parade's VIP reception and has been involved with the May Day Parade for 12 years. She said that practitioners have been invited to participate in the parade several times and the community is always thrilled to see traditional Chinese culture coming to their city.
Local residents Bob and Pepper said they enjoyed the Tian Guo Marching Band's performance.
Raising Awareness in Asia Fest in Plano, Texas
Falun Dafa practitioners were invited to participate in Asia Fest, which was held in Haggard Park, Plano, Texas on May 4, 2019.
Practitioners introduce Falun Dafa during Asia Fest in the City of Plano and collected signatures to condemn the CCP's persecution.
May is Asia-Pacific Cultural Heritage Month in the U.S. With the rapidly growing Asian population in the North Dallas region, Asia Fest is very popular. Many people stopped by the Falun Dafa booth, curious to learn more about the practice and the persecution.
Ukraine: Raising Awareness During Lviv City Days
Practitioners participated in Lviv City Days from May 3 to 5, 2019. Many people learned about Falun Dafa and signed the petition which encourages the lawsuit against the former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) head.
Practitioners talk to people about Falun Dafa and the persecution during Lviv City Day in the Ukraine.
Kyoto, Japan: Raising Awareness During a National Holiday
In May, the new emperor of Japan ascended to the throne. The celebrations coincided with Golden Week (a series of four national holidays held from late April to early May).
There were ten consecutive days of celebration in Japan. The ancient capital of Kyoto is a world-renowned tourist attraction, and this year even more people came to visit. From May 1–7 practitioners from Nagoya and Kansai participated in the celebrations and introduced Falun Dafa. They also talked about the persecution and collected signatures to encourage the lawsuit against the former CCP head.
A practitioner tells people about Falun Dafa and the persecution.
Chinese tourists stop to read the information.
Passersby sign the petition to support the lawsuit against Jiang Zemin
One elderly Japanese man said he was moved by practitioners' courage and dedication. When he noticed the banner kept being blown away by the wind the first day, he helped by holding the flagpole.
The weather was calm the next day. The elderly man came back and held posters. On the third day, he brought a stack of money and tried to give it to practitioners. They kindly declined and thanked him. Finally, he gave them two small speakers and said he hoped they would use them to let more people know Falun Gong and the CCP's persecution.
An elderly Japanese man helps practitioners let people know about the persecution.
Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan: Collecting Signatures to Support the Lawsuit
Practitioners from Kumamoto gathered in front of JR Shimonoseki Station in Yamaguchi Prefecture on May 3 and collected signatures to support the lawsuit against Jiang Zemin. Since September 2015, they have collected signatures in Kyushu Prefecture and Okinawa Prefecture. More than 420,000 people have signed the petition.
People sign the petition which supports the lawsuit against a former CCP head.
After a 30-year-old man learned about the CCP's persecution he said, “The bone in my right hand is fractured. Let me sign with my left hand.”
He slowly signed his name with his left hand. He told the practitioner, “I'm sorry my writing is not good. Keep doing the good work.”
About the Persecution:
Jiang Zemin, former head of the CCP perceived the spiritual discipline's growing popularity as a threat to the Party's atheistic ideology and issued an order to ban Falun Gong on July 20, 1999.Minghui.org has confirmed the deaths of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners in the persecution over the past 18 years; the actual number is suspected to be much higher. More have been imprisoned and tortured for their faith. Evidence shows that the CCP harvests organs from detained practitioners, who are killed in the process, to supply the organ transplantation industry.Over the years, Falun Gong practitioners have been invited to participate in community events. They introduce the ancient spiritual practice and raise awareness of the persecution.
Relevant articles in Chinese: Plano, Texas; Ukraine; Kyoto, Japan; and Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan.
