(Minghui.org) On October 19, Falun Gong practitioners from Sydney were invited to perform at the Annual Granny Smith Festival held in Eastwood, a town north of Sydney with a large population of Chinese. Practitioners also set up a booth at the festival to introduce Falun Gong to the public. Tens of thousands of people attended the event this year.
Falun Gong practitioners in the parade
Raising awareness about Falun Gong
Practitioners' booth
Practitioners participated in the opening parade of the festival. The colorful float, Chinese dance, and waist drums of the Falun Gong group were warmly welcomed by the spectators. After the parade, an older gentleman from Shanghai, China, came to practitioners' booth with his family, and said, “I know that Falun Gong is good. I also know about the persecution. I support you.”
Mr. Zhou, another Chinese man who had just come to Sydney from China, said, “I love the Falun Gong group. You can see the joy on their faces. I appreciate that Falun Gong introduces Chinese culture to western society. I am proud of them.”
Practitioners set up a booth and taught people the exercises. Many people stopped to learn more about the practice.
Learning the exercises
An old Chinese man passed by practitioners' booth. When he saw a banner that read: “Falun Dafa Is Practiced in Over 100 Countries Worldwide,” he was surprised and stopped. A practitioner gave him a flyer. He said that he didn't believe it. The practitioner said to him, “You don't believe this, because the Chinese Communist Party made a lot of propaganda [defaming Falun Gong].” The practitioner told him how Falun Gong had healed her parents' illnesses. The old Chinese gentleman became interested. He accepted the flyer and talked to the practitioner for a long time.
A Chinese lady, who is a Christian, talked to a western practitioner for a long time. She said that she was afraid to talk to Chinese Falun Gong practitioners. The Western practitioner said, “Yes. The Chinese government's propaganda goes everywhere. It even spreads in Australia.” The lady then said she believed that everybody should respect each other. She hopes that the persecution of Falun Gong will end soon, and practitioners will have the freedom to practice.
