July 15, 2001

In old China, people traveled from the provinces to the capital, Beijing, to present grievances to the emperor.

Now, three Orange County members of Falun Gong, a meditation and exercise [practice], are driving to Washington, D.C., to publicize persecution in China, which has outlawed the group as an "[Jiang Zemin government's slanderous term omitted]."

The three Orange County residents aim to arrive in the U.S. capital before a rally on Thursday. Other Falun Gong members are walking from Boston and New York, bicycling from Orlando, Fla., and driving from Houston, San Francisco and Atlanta.

"I hope this will help in China," said Calvin Lou, 29, an Anaheim resident originally from Tianjin, China. "A lot of people we have met on the way don't know about the persecution in China."

Lou, a Falun Gong follower since 1995, is riding in a rented minivan with 10 other members from California and Arizona, including Linda Slupsky of Garden Grove and Mark Gardner of Brea.

"I never tried to be, like, an activist," said Gardner, 22, a soft-drink merchandiser, who was interviewed over the phone during a stop in Dallas. "But I feel strongly that people shouldn't be persecuted for their beliefs."

About 250 Falun Gong practitioners have died in prisons, labor camps and asylums since China outlawed the [group] in July 1999, the group says. Independent monitors put the figure at about 150.

[...]

Slupsky, 42, said her health has improved since she began practicing Falun Gong's [...] exercises and meditation in 1998.

"I used to have chronic fatigue syndrome," she said. "Now I have more energy."

At least 30 people in Orange County practice Falun Gong, said Yan-bo Yang, a local spokesman for the group from Irvine. They gather weekend mornings for group sessions at parks in Irvine, Anaheim, Fullerton and Westminster. They deny the group is a [Jiang Zemin government's slanderous term omitted].

On the road, the travelers share stories about conditions in China. One spent 124 days detained in a Chinese jail and witnessed the torture of fellow inmates, Lou said. Another passenger's mother is serving a three-year jail term for practicing Falun Gong.

The oldest traveler in the van is an 80-year-old great-grandmother. One woman who boarded in Tucson is three months pregnant.

The travelers said they took no time off for sightseeing and found few chances to exercise or meditate. Money for motel rooms, food and gas comes out of each person's pocket.

"The bottom line is I'm willing to sacrifice if I can save a life," said Lou, a computer scientist who was laid off in June. "This is not a vacation."

Updates on the Falun Gong trip to Washington are on the Internet at www.walktodc.org

http://www.ocregister.com/nation_world/falun00716cci.shtml