(Clearwisdom.net)
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| Procession of Falun Dafa practitioners | Falun Dafa exercise demonstration |
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| Red silk scarf dance | Colorful float | Group photo of practitioners |
Although the high temperature on July 4 in the City of Bristol, Rhode Island was 96 degrees and broke the historical record, there were still more than 225,000 people, estimated by town officials, watching this grand parade that is the oldest in American history. Seeing that so many people were watching the parade, practitioners overcame the intense heat and their fatigue to continuously perform the dances and demonstrate the exercises displaying the beauty of Dafa to people until they reached the end of the 2.5-mile long route. The beautiful dances and peaceful exercises gained warm applause.
Some spectators said: "This is Falun Gong that is persecuted in China." From their warm applause and cheerful expressions, we could see their support and praise. Some spectators showed "10 points" to us.
Newspapers and TV stations reported Dafa practitioners' procession and introduced Dafa
Many practitioners had put lots of effort to prepare for this parade. An American practitioner living in Rhode Island spent over two weeks designing and making many lotus flowers of different sizes to decorate the float. Even her husband, a non-practitioner also put much effort in the preparation. The company that provided the float not only offered us the lowest rate but also provided a special driver. The driver also took the initiative to help decorate the float. Local practitioners spent two days buying materials and decorating the float, while practitioners from Connecticut came here one day ahead to teach the dances.
Practitioners' performances attracted not only the spectators but also the media. The largest newspaper in Bristol, the Providence Journal, published a photo of the practitioners' dance on its front page. The local CBS TV station also used two minutes to introduce our parade procession. They mentioned that Falun Dafa is based on the universal principle of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and is practiced by over 100 million people. The program host said that these practitioners looked so energetic, probably because they were benefiting from their practice. In the end the host introduced our practice sites and time schedules for free exercise instruction. He also said that they would join the exercise practice next week.
