Netherlands: Dutch and German Falun Gong Practitioners Participate in the Asian Festival in Mondo Verde Park (Photos)

The Asian Festival was held from May 15 to May 25 in Mondo Verde Park. During this time, there were displays of Asian culture and arts, such as martial arts, Karate, Indian dances, a Japanese tea ceremony etc. German and Dutch Falun Gong practitioners were also invited to participate in the Asian Festival to demonstrate the five sets of Falun Gong exercises. The graceful Falun Gong exercises and music echoed through the park, making the tourists feel peaceful and at ease.

However, something unexpected happened in such a beautiful environment. On the day before the Mondo Verde Asian Festival, the event organizer J. Nonneman received a fax from the Chinese Consulate asking him to cancel the Falun Gong demonstration. He rejected this irrational request and this incident was extensively reported by Dutch media; it became a talking point throughout the whole of the southern part of the Netherlands. One after another, tourists who watched the demonstration, asked, "Why is something as harmonious as Falun Gong banned [in China]?" One couple said, after learning the facts of the persecution, "What Falun Gong brings us are all wonderful things. The propaganda by the Chinese government is fake. I believe you will surely succeed." Visitors came one after another.

The weather was overcast and cool on the first weekend, and it started to rain when practitioners demonstrated the sitting meditation exercise. All other demonstrations stopped, leaving only the six Falun Gong practitioners left in the park. The second day when we sat in meditation, dark clouds came again. Rain and wind came together. All practitioners had the same thought -- the rain will stop. After the one hour of meditation was over, the rain indeed stopped and when practitioners opened their eyes, they saw a lot of tourists watching them, some still holding umbrellas. On the second weekend, practitioners from many other cities also joined the activities.

Falun Gong is not affected by wind or rain, but the practitioners' sitting quietly in meditation affected people throughout the park. They truly felt that Falun Gong is not just another way to keep fit and healthy, but a genuine cultivation practice. Since this time, other groups came to talk with practitioners and ask for materials; some even came to learn the exercises. Various TV stations reported on Falun Gong as a genuine cultivation group. When the Asian Festival was over and when practitioners said goodbye to the Park's management, they said, "You may come and practise Falun Gong in our park anytime."