(Clearwisdom.net) July 4, 2005 was American Independence Day, and the
beautiful seaside city of Huntington Beach in Southern California held its 101st
Independence Day Parade. Falun Gong practitioners in Los Angeles participated
for the second time in this largest-scale Independence Day parade west of the
Mississippi River. Falun Gong practitioners provided performances including a
waist drum group, celestial maiden dancers, a float decorated with blue sky and
white clouds, and exercise demonstrations on the float. They were well-received
by the spectators, and they brought good wishes of
"Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" to 250,000 spectators along the
parade route and three million television viewers.
The Huntington Beach Independence Day Parade is a traditional program for
American people to celebrate their national day, and it is held every July 4th.
This year's parade is the 101st in succession. The parade is the
largest in scale in the Western US, and is also one of the most famous American
Independence Day Parades. There were 350 entries participating in this year's
parade, with about 20,000 people taking part. Spectators numbered about 250,000,
and at least three million watched the parade on TV.
 
Falun Gong float |
Waist drummers group |
The grand parade was held on broad No. 1 Road at the Pacific Seashore near
the Pacific Ocean. The parade entries included floats, music and honor guards,
chevalier groups, veteran groups, military motorcades and other types of groups.
The large procession marched about four miles in about three hours. The Falun
Gong contingent included a dance group, a waist drummers group and the float. It
was one of the largest-scale parade entries, and also the only Chinese group
participating in the parade.
Celestial maidens group |
Celestial maidens group |
Spectators gave warm applause to the Falun Gong practitioners' wonderful
performances. Some people followed the waist drumbeat to wave US flags and
balloon sticks. Some stretched their hands for flyers in a desire to learn what
Falun Gong is, and some others followed practitioners' exercise demonstrations
on the float by imitating the exercises.
Enthusiastic spectators |
Enthusiastic spectators |
There were several broadcasting stations along the parade route. Whenever the
Falun Gong contingent passed by, the announcer introduced, "Falun Dafa is
also called Falun Gong. It cultivates Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and
is a peaceful cultivation practice benefiting people both physically and
mentally. More than 100 million people in over 60 countries practice it. There
is also a practice site at Orange County (the country where the Huntington Beach
is located), everyone is welcome to come to participate."
Enthusiastic spectators |
Handing out flyers introducing Falun Gong |
Handing out flyers introducing Falun Gong |
Handing out flyers introducing Falun Gong |
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Handing out flyers introducing Falun Gong
|
