Dafa Practitioners Gather in Chicago, Prelude to Mid-US Fa Conference Begins (Photos)

(Clearwisdom.net) On Friday, June 20, 2003, nearly 2000 Dafa practitioners from more than 30 countries around the world, including Asia, Europe, Australia and North America gathered in front of the Chinese Consulate in Chicago to do the exercises and send righteous thoughts. They also held two large-scale artistic performances at Federal Plaza and Thompson Center, displaying the beauty and peacefulness of Falun Dafa to the public.

Dafa practitioners from around the world gave some wonderful performances, a children's song and dance, traditional Chinese folk musical instrumental performance, Western practitioner's singing songs composed by Dafa practitioners in Chinese, and other beautiful dances, attracting many passersby to stop and enjoy the performance.

A young man said that he admired the practitioners' efforts in bringing such beautiful performances to entertain the community. He also thanked practitioners for informing the American community of the news of the persecution of Falun Gong in China so that more people would learn about the horrific persecution. Another man listened to the Erhu performance and acclaimed, "It's really marvelous, really marvelous!" He also said that he hoped our activities could help end the persecution in China. When DC practitioners in elegant Tang Dynasty costumes performed the exercises, practitioners who distributed Dafa literature and materials took the opportunity to introduce the exercises to the passersby. People were eager to accept the Dafa materials. One person said that he had three Chinese friends and wanted to take some materials for them. A couple had a long conversation with a practitioner, who told them about the lawsuit against Jiang, the illegal detention of American citizen Charles Li, and Jiang regime's expanding the persecution to overseas. They were shocked and angry upon hearing about what was going on. The couple was attracted by practitioners' peaceful and graceful exercises demonstration, and they prepared to find a practice site to learn the exercises. A practitioner said that when she saw so many kind-hearted people happily accepting Dafa truth-clarifying materials, tears welled up in her eyes. An elderly gentleman from Hunan Province watched our performances for quite some time. At the beginning, when a practitioner wanted to talk to him, he waved his hands and avoided the practitioner. After he watched the performance for a while, the practitioner once again introduced Falun Dafa to him and told him about the principle of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" that Falun Gong practitioners follow, and that Falun Gong is teaching people to be good. This time, the elderly gentleman nodded his head again and again.

At the calligraphy booth, two practitioners from Australia wrote Chinese names for passersby, who showed great interest. The margins of the paper were imprinted with messages in English, "Falun Dafa is good," "Practiced by more than 100 million people, " and Dafa websites. After finishing the calligraphy of people's names, the practitioners imprinted the paper with a lotus flower seal. The people who got it were quite happy. A practitioner from Sweden handed out Dafa literature and clarified the truth to those who were waiting for the calligraphy. A young man wanted to sign his name to call for the end of the persecution. Practitioners told him that it was a pity that they did not prepare a signature collection book, but he could find one with the practitioners in front of the Chinese Consulate. The young man immediately said that he would go to the Chinese Consulate to sign his name.

Falun Gong practitioners from more than 30 countries around the world, one after another, came to the Chinese Consulate in Chicago to send forth righteous thoughts in support of the lawsuit against Jiang. At 6:00 p.m., nearly a thousand practitioners joined in sending righteous thoughts. Many of them came directly from the airport or rode more than 10 hours in overnight buses. They were of different ages, ethnicities and different walks of life. The scene was magnificent and touching.

The practitioners peacefully practiced the five sets of Falun Gong exercises, demonstrating to people the Falun Gong practitioners' unyielding perseverance. The Practitioners sat in front of the Chinese Consulate and surrounding sidewalks. A huge poster with photos of Falun Gong practitioners in China who have been tortured to death over the past four years was set up right opposite the main gate of the Consulate.

Practitioners also held large banners, stating, "Bring Jiang to Justice Globally," "Put Jiang on Trial," and "Stop the Persecution of Falun Gong." The scene was spectacular and solemn. The practitioners distributed a large number of Dafa flyers to the citizens of Chicago regarding the lawsuit against Jiang.

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