(Clearwisdom.net) January 23, 2004 (January 2 on the Chinese calendar) marks the tenth anniversary of our great Master Li lecturing and teaching Falun Dafa in the Dongying Region. In the spirit of welcoming the coming spring and ushering out the harsh winter winds of the past, we joyfully celebrate this sacred day, and pay our highest respect to our benevolent Teacher.

Ten years ago, during Chinese New Year in 1994, our great and compassionate Teacher disregarded his own suffering, and came during the harsh winter to Dongying City of Shandong Province to teach us Falun Dafa. Dongying is located at the mouth of the Yellow River. Teacher gave lectures and taught the exercises in Kenli County from February 11 to the 18 (January 2 to the 9 on the Lunar calendar). During this time, he also gave two separate lectures in Dongying region and Xianhe respectively. He taught the Great Law, Falun Dafa, which had been secretly passed down through countless generations, to the people in Dongying. From that time on, Dongying began a new page in history.

In as little as ten years, Falun Dafa has spread in villages, towns, cities, and all corners of China and the Donying region, awaking the benevolent nature of millions of people, and bringing boundless virtue to the people. Dafa has grown deeply in people's hearts so that they can distinguish good and bad, be righteous and considerate of others, and be able to recognize the truth.

To commemorate this special day, give our boundless respect to our most respectable Teacher, to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Teacher coming to Dongying to teach the Dafa, to further the Fa-rectification in the Dongying region, to let the Dongying people understand Dafa more deeply, to let those who have predestined relationships begin cultivation practice in Falun Dafa, to help Dongying area Dafa practitioners to improve and advance diligently, and to let all generations in Dongying remember the brilliant Fa-rectification period, Dongying area Dafa practitioners discussed and decided that every year from January 2 to 9 they would hold the "Dongying Area Falun Dafa Festival." This year was the first festival.

We Dafa practitioners will take this "Dafa Festival" as an opportunity to encourage cooperation and coordination as a whole, and do our best to do the three things well: "study Fa well, clarify the truth and send forth righteous thoughts." We will take advantage of the Chinese New Year traditions and opportunities to visit friends and family in order to use rationality, wisdom and the best of our abilities to help more people understand the truth of the Dafa and the brutal persecution. We will advance diligently together in the Fa-rectification journey and celebrate the first annual "Dongying Region Falun Dafa Festival," and fulfill Teacher's great compassion by saving all beings!

Dongying Area Dafa Practitioners

January 12, 2004