Southern California: Falun Gong Practitioners Participate in Largest Independence Day Parade in the Western US (Photos)
By practitioners from Los Angeles
(Clearwisdom.net) On July 4, the U.S. Independence Day, the 100th
annual Fourth of July Parade was held in Huntington Beach, a beautiful seashore
city in Southern California. Falun Gong practitioners from Los Angeles, San
Diego and Las Vegas participated for the first time in this largest Independence
Day parade west of the Mississippi River, which featured more than 300 entries
including bands, floats, film and television celebrities, local dignitaries,
equestrians and community groups. Falun Gong practitioners' waist drum
performance, fairy dance, float decorated with a huge lotus flower as well as
the exercise demonstration on the float were warmly received by the spectators
and also brought the wonderful blessing of Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance to
the 300,000 jubilant people along the route.
The parade proceeded along the Main street and the wide Pacific
Coast Highway which is next to the Pacific Ocean. The 4-mile
parade lasted more than 3 hours. At around 6 am, spectators
started gathering on both sides of the street and waiting to enjoy
the parade, which began at 10 am. Before 9 am, the 4-mile long
route was crowded with people. Justin R. Weiler, a member of the parade organizing committee,
stated that the annual Huntington Beach Fourth of July Parade is a
traditional celebration and this year marked its 100th
anniversary. This parade is the largest Independence Day parade in
the western U.S. and is also one of the most famous U.S.
Independence Day Parades. About 350 processions consisting of
about 20,000 people participated in this parade. It was estimated
that between 300,000 and 500,000 people watched the parade along
the route, and at least 3 million more watched it on TV. Falun Gong practitioners' procession, which included a banner
team, dance team, waist drum troupe and float was one of the
larger processions and was the only procession composed of Chinese
people. The gracefully fairy dance performed by female
practitioners dressed in colorful Tang Dynasty costumes, the waist
drum troupe's bright yellow suits and their orderly movements, the
huge lotus flower on the float as well as the large red banners
with golden words, "Falun Dafa" and
"Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance" in English and
Chinese were extremely eye-catching under the bright blue sky and
beautiful sunshine. The American people were extremely happy to see Falun Gong
practitioners celebrating with them on this holiday. They
constantly applauded to show their appreciation of practitioners'
performance. Among the spectators, some people loudly shouted,
"Falun Dafa"; some waived the U.S. flags and danced to
the waist drum beats; and some copied the Falun Gong exercise
movements demonstrated by practitioners on the float. Sounds of
"Beautiful" and "Pretty" could be constantly
heard. One Caucasian lady excitedly shouted in Chinese towards
practitioners, "Hello! How are you!" When practitioners' procession passed through the TV relay
station, the female and male masters of ceremony announced to the
audience: "Falun Dafa, also called Falun Gong is a cultivation
practice based on Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance which is
beneficial to improve both physical and mental health. About 100
million people in about 60 countries in the world are practicing
it." "In Orange County, there are also daily or weekly practice
sites or exercise instruction classes, free of charge. All are
welcome to join." "If you would like to learn meditation, it's time now.
Look, there they are!" "If you would like to join the 100 million people, please
visit the website: www.falundafa.org".
Falun Gong practitioners' procession
Falun Gong practitioners' procession
Many people are busy taking photos of practitioners'
procession. In this photo, the photographer is lying down to
take the photos
The lady in this photo copies the exercise movement
demonstrated by practitioners on the float. She is doing the
"single-hand stroking" of the 3rd set
Falun Gong exercise, "penetrating the two extremes".
Distributing Falun Gong flyers
Practitioners' performances are warmly received
by spectators along the route
Chinese version available at
http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2004/7/5/78730.html
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