(Clearwisdom.net, January 25, 2004) After Jiang's regime unjustifiably impeded Falun Gong practitioners from joining in the Chinese Spring Festival Parade in Paris, Paris Falun Gong practitioners decided to invite fellow practitioners from other European countries to come to Paris and jointly hold two parades.
On the afternoon of January 23, 2004, nearly a thousand Falun Gong practitioners from France, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy and Taiwan attended the Falun Gong Spring Festival Float Parade in Downtown Paris. Besides, some local Chinese people who love Chinese culture and support Falun Gong also actively joined the parade. A Chinese traditional lion-dance team led the procession that extended several kilometers. Next was a float on which several Falun Gong practitioners dressed in elegant ancient Chinese costumes stood. They were holding various musical instruments. Following the float was a group of "heavenly flying girls" with flower baskets in hands and nearly 30 "lotus fairies" who held in both hands lotus flowers that symbolized those who emerge unstained from the filth. Accompanied by the song "Falun Dafa is great," lotus fairies and flying girls danced together.
One after another, passersby stopped and watched the parade. They applauded and cheered. Many people on the passing-by vehicles opened their windows, popped their heads and loudly said to those dancing fairies, "Thank you!" The most lively and exciting scene was the "waist drum" performance conducted by a group of both western and Chinese male Falun Gong practitioners. They dressed in golden-colored exercise uniforms bound with red ribbons and wore yellow hats. Previously, many westerners did not know much about Chinese culture or did not have any interest in it. Through practicing Falun Gong, more and more westerners came to admire and yearn for the splendid Chinese culture, even more so, they actively support and promote the Chinese culture with their earnest practice.
Most on-looking people happily accepted practitioners' flyers that introduced Falun Gong and the persecution. Without practitioners' explanations, many people already knew about the origin and the entire course of the parade, they wished practitioners a great success. Along the road, many Chinese people also watched the parade. Many people stood on the roadside for a long time, and silently watched the parade from the beginning to the end. In front of such a high-spirited and vigorous, beautiful and peaceful parade procession, many saw and felt the greatness of Falun Dafa.
A Chinese student said when accepting an interview, "I think they (Falun Gong practitioners) have done very well. They expressed what they want to say in a very good, peaceful and kind way. .... What touch me most was the group of people who hold in hands photos of those they mourn for. When I watched, I almost could not hold back my tears." A reporter asked, "What photos?" He said, "I think the photos are of those fellow practitioners who were persecuted. Most likely, the photos are those who died as a result of the persecution in China."
A South American who lives in France expressed that he just celebrated the Chinese spring festival with several Chinese people. Previously, he watched a similar parade on TV. Today, he was very excited to watch such a parade on site for the first time. At the same time, he felt that he deepened his understanding of Chinese culture. He also said that he had not heard of Falun Gong before, but he learned more about Falun Gong through this parade.
On the afternoon of January, Falun Gong practitioners would conduct another parade and display the charm of Chinese culture and the beauty of Falun Dafa.
