(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners from Vancouver held activities to commemorate the 22^nd anniversary of the April 25 Appeal in Beijing at the Vancouver Art Gallery on April 18, 2021.

It was bright and sunny in Vancouver, and the practitioners' peaceful exercises attracted many onlookers and drivers who called out in support.

Practitioners held activities to commemorate the 22^nd anniversary of the April 25 peaceful appeal in China in 1999.

Practitioners' peaceful exercises attracted many onlookers.

Two passersby stopped to talk with practitioners about Falun Dafa.

Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, is a meditation system based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. Threatened by Falun Dafa's increasing popularity, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) arrested a group of practitioners in Tianjin. About 10,000 practitioners peacefully gathered in Beijing the following day, April 25, 1999, to appeal for their fellow practitioners’ release. Three months later, the CCP launched a nationwide persecution.

On April 23 & 24, 1999, police officials in Tianjin, a city near Beijing, assaulted and arrested dozens of practitioners who had gathered outside a magazine office to discuss errors in a recently-published article attacking Falun Gong. Ms. Tian, a practitioner in Vancouver, said that the practitioners in Tianjin were illegally detained.

She elaborated: “Practitioners went to Beijing for a peaceful appeal. They wanted to tell the government that Falun Dafa practitioners abided by the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to become better people. They did not commit any crimes nor were they any danger to society. On the contrary, those who practiced Falun Dafa benefited society. They wanted the officials in Beijing to know the truth about Falun Dafa.

“Looking back on April 25, 1999, people can see how Falun Dafa practitioners conducted themselves.” When the arrested practitioners in Tianjin were released, everyone went home.

A New Practitioner: Being Steadfast in Cultivation

Cindy traveled from Vancouver Island to participate in the event and watched practitioners do the exercises. She told a practitioner that she wanted to understand more about Falun Dafa but was unable to for many reasons. Two weeks ago she found a practitioner online and is now reading the book Zhuan Falun. When she heard that practitioners were going to hold an April 25^th gathering, she immediately decided to go.

She also said that reading Zhuan Falun had made her more determined: “I know this is the path I should take. This is very meaningful to me. I am an older lady who understands about energy fields. I absolutely agree with the principles mentioned in the book. However, I still need to learn to be tolerant of others. I will be more diligent and improve my xinxing level and will keep telling myself to persist.”