(Clearwisdom.net) Falun Gong practitioners from the San Francisco Bay area participated in the Fremont Art Festival on July 31 and August 1, 2004. The annual art festival provided the practitioners with a good opportunity to clarify the truth about Falun Gong and the persecution in China. Falun Gong received support from the local residents as well as tourists from Mainland China who also encouraged the practitioners to persist in their activities. The festival organizer said that this was the largest free street fair in California and the two-day festival attracts several hundred thousand visitors every year.

Clarifying the truth at the Falun Dafa booth

Shortly after the event started at 10 a.m. on Saturday, two Chinese tourists came over to our booth. After listened to the introductions, they said, "You are doing a good thing. You must persist."

Another Chinese person walked up to the Falun Dafa booth and said to the practitioners, "You did a wonderful job! You are hard working!"

Western people had reactions similar to those of the Chinese visitors. When one Westerner heard about Jiang's regime hiring gunmen to shoot practitioners in South Africa, he said, "It is crazy. They are insane. Under the current regime, the people have no freedom."

This man said that Jiang's regime was insane to hire gunmen to shoot Falun Gong practitioners in South Africa

On Sunday morning, the practitioners were demonstrating the exercises. One gentleman came to the booth and said that he had read our flyer from front to back. He came today to ask where he could find the book, "Zhuan Falun" [the principal teachings for Falun Dafa]. The practitioners told him that the book could be downloaded from the Internet for free or bought in bookstores. The man then left happily.

In two days, many people asked what Falun Gong is all about and asked about the difference between Falun Gong and Taichi or Yoga. They also asked about the location of exercise practice sites. After one woman obtained the address of the practice site, she said she would go there the next day. Many people said they had seen the Falun Gong exercises in the park before.

One woman asked many questions about Falun Gong and showed a strong interest in its healing effects. However, she said didn't have a computer to watch the VCD nor could she download books from Internet. So a Western practitioner taught her the exercises right beside the booth.

An elderly lady was attracted by the group exercises and watched for a long time. When she was leaving, a practitioner caught up with her and gave her some introductory materials. The woman was very moved and gave the practitioner a big hug.

Exercise demonstration

Free exercise teaching

A practitioner accepts an interview

"Falun Gong has spread to over 60 countries. It is amazing!"

An elderly gentleman from Mainland China said that he already knew that Falun Gong had spread to over 60 countries in the world. He then remarked, "It is amazing!"

After one woman learned more about Falun Gong and the persecution in China, she wanted to donate some money to Falun Gong and said, "This money can help you to continue your efforts." (The practitioners of course kindly declined her offer.)

Many people said that they had heard about Falun Gong already. One elderly woman from China said, "Yes, I have heard of it in China. The Chinese government said it was a bad thing." The practitioner told her that Falun Gong taught people to live their lives according to "Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance." But Jiang became envious because so many people were practicing Falun Gong, and so he started the persecution and fabricated many lies to defame Falun Gong. The old woman said, "I understand. I understand the ruling party's tricks. We know; we are all from Mainland China."

The practitioners who participated in the event said that they felt that people were waiting for the truth and that we have a great responsibility to bring the truth to society.