(Clearwisdom.net) On July 4, over 20,000 residents of O'Fallon of Missouri watched the Independence Day parade along it's 2 mile route. Falun Gong practitioner's float really stood out among all the parade entries. Dafa practitioners demonstrated peaceful exercises on their carefully decorated float. In front of the float were "Falun Dafa" and "Truth-Compassion-Tolerance" banners. Female practitioners holding lotus flowers danced elegantly. Two male practitioners danced with silk ribbons to "Falun Dafa Hao." Spectators constantly gave warm applause, remarking things like, "Beautiful, Very Nice." When the Falun Gong float passed the stage, the host gave a brief introduction of Falun Dafa and the principle of "Truth- Compassion-Tolerance." He said the exercise demonstration made him felt very relaxed, and he praised practitioners' dances.

In this fast growing city, people have had some understanding of Falun Gong. The mayor of O'Fallon issued a proclamation to Falun Gong in March this year. It was the third time Falun Gong practitioners had attended the local Independence Day parade. In addition to practitioners from St. Louis, practitioners from Tennessee and Alabama also joined the parade. A young couple brought the beauty of Dafa to westerners through dance. In the free land of America, they can freely pay their tribute to Dafa however on the other side of the earth, the young woman, Xueyuan's mother, Professor Zeng Lingwen was sentenced to two years' forced labor camp due to her belief in Falun Gong and now is detained in Heizuizi Female Labor Camp of Changchun City, Jilin Province.

Congressman Aiken also participated in the parade. When he waved to spectators along the road, he saw Falun Dafa practitioners in their yellow t-shirts. He signaled practitioners to come over. After shaking hands, he said, "I am very glad to see you here." A practitioner said, "Thank you for your support to Falun Gong." He replied, "It is my honor." After the parade, Falun Gong's float won second place for "Most Outstanding Float." Local residents came to congratulate us and expressed they would go to practice site to learn the exercise.

Posting date: 7/9/2003
Original article date: 7/8/2003
Category: Falun Dafa Worldwide
Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2003/7/8/53671.html

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