(Minghui.org) One day in December 1992, the Oriental Health Expo was taking place in Beijing, China. A middle-aged woman whose abdomen had expanded more than that of a woman in her ninth month of pregnancy came into the lobby of the expo. She needed help and leaned on her husband's arm. Someone who knew her said that the woman wasn't pregnant, she had a tumor in her abdomen. Hospitals couldn't heal her, so she and her husband had come to the expo and wound up finding a qigong master.

People's eyes followed the woman and finally stopped in front of a qigong master. The qigong master immediately adjusted her body. About 20 minutes passed, and the qigong master made a movement with his hand as though stretching it into somewhere and taking something out. The patient's abdomen deflated right away, returning to its normal size. Afterward, the waistband of her trousers was too large for even two of her. The couple was so excited and grateful that they immediately knelt down and kowtowed to thank the qigong master. The people who witnessed this at the time didn't move and were stunned into silence. When they realized what they had seen, there was a burst of thunderous applause.

Who was this qigong master, then? He was Mr. Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Gong.

Twenty years ago, Mr. Li Hongzhi and some students participated in the 1992 Oriental Health Expo in Beijing, which was held at the World Trade Building in Dabeiyao from December 12 to 21. During the expo, the powerful healing effects of Falun Gong caught people's attention. Mr. Li became the qigong master who received the highest number of awards at the expo.

Mr. Li once again led some of his students to participate in the 1993 Oriental Health Expo in Beijing, which was held at the Sanyuanqiao International Exhibition Center from December 11 to 20, 1993. Mr. Li attended this expo as one of the Expo Organizing Committee members. Mr. Li was awarded the highest award of the expo, the "Award for Advancing Frontier Sciences." At the expo, he also received the "Special Gold Prize" and the title of the "Most Acclaimed Qigong Master."

Awards Mr. Li Hongzhi received at the two Beijing Oriental Health Expos in 1992 and 1993

In two consecutive years of Oriental Health Expos, Mr. Li Hongzhi adjusted the bodies of many patients who suffered from various incurable diseases. No matter how serious the illnesses were, how long they hadn't been cured, and even after hospital doctors had announced that they were terminally ill, Mr. Li was able to cure them immediately. During the expos, many people witnessed that some patients came in on stretchers, some in wheelchairs pushed by others, some carried on someone else's back, and some escorted by others. After Mr. Li made a few hand gestures in the air and stomped a few times on the ground, their illnesses miraculously disappeared. Stretchers and wheelchairs were no longer necessary, some patients were able to stand up from the chair right away, and some were able to walk immediately...

Seeing all this, Mr. Li Rusong, head manager of the expo in 1992, said, "The first appreciation letter the expo received is praising Falun Gong. Falun Gong also has the most appreciation letters." Professor Jiang Xuegui, head advisor of the expo, said, "I have personally seen many miracles created by Teacher Li Hongzhi for the expo, and Falun Gong is worthy of the title 'star qigong.' As the head advisor of the expo, I would recommend Falun Gong to everyone."

It is a great honor that the organizers of the expo expressed their appreciation for Falun Gong. This also happened in health expos held in Spain.

Madrid hosted the “World and the Americas Expo” in the spring of 1997, and Falun Gong appeared in Spain for the first time. Falun Gong then participated in the 21^st National Health Expo, the largest in Spain, in Madrid in November 2001. With its unique and beautiful exercises and its simple but profound philosophy, Falun Gong shone at that Expo like a pearl and attracted wide attention.

From 2001 to 2003 Falun Gong was a very popular exhibit at the Spanish National Health Expos. During the Expo, many media, such Spanish National Radio, Barcelona TV, and health magazines, interviewed practitioners and made positive reports on Falun Gong. A Spaniard commented, “Falun Gong is a special presence at the Health Expo.” The Expo organizer said, “Your Falun Gong has almost become a privileged exhibition—it is the only exhibitor allowed to show outdoors.”

 
Falun Gong well received at a health expo in Spain

 
In 2003, Barcelona hosted the National Health Expo in Spain. Many visitors learned about Falun Gong.

Organizers of health expos in Germany welcomed Falun Gong in a different way by arranging Falun Gong seminars. In 2001, a three-day health expo was held in Mannheim, Germany, and the Falun Gong booth became one of the most popular. On the first day of the expo, practitioners held three one-hour Falun Gong seminars. Each time all the seats were taken and many people had to stand listening. The expo's organizer also praised the Falun Gong seminars as special. On the third day, the seminar was moved to a room twice as large; still the room was full and some people could not find seats and had to stand.

On October 18, 2008, the grand opening ceremony of the Third German Health Expo was held in Leipzig. The expo lasted for two days, Falun Gong's great effect in improving health attracted the attention of many visitors. During the two day Health Expo, the organizer arranged for Falun Gong to have three seminars. In addition to attracting a full house at each seminar, Falun Gong was highly acclaimed and welcomed by visitors.

Organizers of the Moscow Children's Health Expo welcomed Falun Gong by giving a 40% discount for the booth rental. Moreover, since November 2008, the Falun Dafa Association has received certificates of appreciation from the organizers of the expos four times. The number of visitors to the expo each year was from thousands to tens of thousands, and the largest reached 50,000. The Falun Gong booth was beautifully decorated, and many visitors came over. The practitioners provided all kinds of informational materials, exercise instruction DVDs and Falun Dafa books. Many people learned to practice Falun Gong on the spot.

It should be said that the welcoming attitude of organizers of health expos in different countries was by no means based on the profit motive. As a matter of fact, the organizers often gave preferential treatment to Falun Gong with respect to the delegate fees. The attitude of the organizers, in fact, was the concentrated expression of the voice of the people in different countries.

 
Falun Gong receives a certificate of appreciation for taking part in the Moscow Children's Health Expo November 3-7, 2010

A person-in-charge of environmental protection of an oil company in Thailand saw Falun Gong practitioners' activity at a health expo in August 2010 in Thailand. He told the practitioners that he would introduce Falun Gong to his employees when his company organized events.

At a health expo for the elderly in Montreal, Canada in March 2010, a lady named Anna was fascinated by the principles of Falun Dafa, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. She said, "The world needs Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance!" Anna spent a long time at the booth listening to introductions by Falun Gong practitioners, one after another. She bought the book Zhuan Falun before she left.

At a 2007 Holistic Health Show, Tom Chavez, owner of Millionaire Media in the U.S. and one of the organizers, came over to practitioners' booth. He accepted Falun Gong informational materials and expressed his support to the practitioners.

At a health expo held in January 2011 in Austria, after learning about Falun Gong, a gentleman in his 80s said that living by Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance would improve one's heart and quality of life.

At a health expo held in April 2011 in Sweden, a well-known guitar player and singer was invited to perform. After watching the Falun Gong demonstration, she told the practitioners that she wanted to learn the exercises.

At a health expo held in February 2010 in Denmark, a Danish woman was surprised to learn that Falun Gong activities are run by volunteers. She found it almost inconceivable, and asked the practitioners why Falun Gong is taught for free. The practitioners replied that this was according to what is written in the book Zhuan Falun, and told her that promoting Dafa is to benefit people and is not about earning money. She understood, and thanked the practitioners.

At a health expo held in September 2011 in Poland, having seen Falun Gong’s leaflets, a professional yoga teacher was greatly interested. After learning to do the first exercise, she said, "Falun Gong is amazing, incredible. I felt enormous energy. I want to practice Falun Gong." On the last day, a woman made a special trip to the Katowice health expo from Szczecin, a city 560 kilometers away, near the German border. When she reached the instruction site, she said to practitioners: "Finally, I found you! I waited for a whole year.” When she learned that she had purchased the practitioners' last copy of of Zhuan Falun, she exclaimed, "I'm so lucky...so lucky!"

Malaysia

Thailand

Italy

Sweden

Denmark

Canada

Falun Gong at health expos in different countries

Falun Gong originated in China, so why has it been so popular among the people from different countries? Let us look at what Falun Gong is. Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a traditional Chinese spiritual discipline for mind and body. The practice involves slow, gentle movements and meditation. Its principles are based on Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. The practice was first introduced by Master Li Hongzhi in China in 1992 and quickly spread by word of mouth throughout China and then beyond. In fact, Falun Gong is practiced by over 100 million people in 110 countries. The main works of Falun Gong are available in over 30 languages.

It is not accidental that Falun Gong has been well received at health and wellness expos in different countries, because it has tremendous effects on healing illnesses. The article series “Falun Gong and Health Benefits” summarizes the healing characteristics of Falun Gong practice in the following five aspects: (http://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2011/3/5/123614.html#.T99tSRwXiy1)

(1) The effectiveness of Falun Gong practice is demonstrated by the 70% complete and basic recovery rate among Falun Gong practitioners who previously suffered from illnesses, with the overall effective rate reaching over 98%.

(2) The holistic healing power of Falun Gong.

(3) Falun Gong has been shown to exert a positive impact on behavior and lifestyle.

(4) Most Falun Gong practitioners experienced rapid health improvement after they started cultivation. The speed and effectiveness are commonly described as "amazing."

(5) Falun Gong is economical. The conclusion drawn from the above mentioned five points, is a result of serious scientific investigation. The targets of the survey are not only Chinese but also people from other nationalities outside of China.

Hundreds of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners from different nationalities have proven through their cultivation practice that Falun Gong's beneficial effects in uplifting an individual's physical health, spiritual well-being, and moral character, not to mention its positive influence in the community and society as a whole, are undeniable. May 13, 2012 marked the 20^th anniversary of Falun Gong's introduction to the public. Proclamations and congratulatory messages to Falun Gong and Mr. Li Hongzhi came one after another from around the world, witnessing Falun Gong's great contributions to the benefit of the mankind. Here we'd like to share with readers a speech given by US Congressman Albio Sires in May 2012 at the House of Representatives to honor Falun Dafa and its founder Master Li Hongzhi. He stated:

“Mister Speaker, I rise today to honor the Falun Dafa movement and its founder, Master Li Hongzhi. Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, has enabled spiritual growth and improvement in the physical being of its practitioners. Across the world, many have benefitted from Falun Dafa by better understanding the universe that we share and building on that to improve themselves.

“Throughout the world, there are an estimated 100 million people in over 120 countries throughout the continents of Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe, and North and South America who practice Falun Dafa. In New Jersey alone, more than 1,000 residents practice this system of mind and body. Falun Dafa has helped many improve their health, purify their minds and uplift their spirits increasing not only health standards around the state and the world, but also promoting qualities that strengthen us as humans.

“Mister speaker, please join me in commending Master Li Hongzhi and the practitioners of Falun Dafa on “World Falun Dafa Day” and the “New Jersey Falun Dafa Month” celebrations. Let us wish that these wonderful practitioners of Falun Dafa continue to make an impact on their communities by observing the principles which they follow.”