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Taiwan: Thousands of Practitioners Perform the Exercises in Front of Taipei City Hall to Celebrate World Falun Dafa Day (Photos)

May 18, 2006 |   By a practitioner from Taiwan

(Clearwisdom.net) Another year of helping Master to rectify the Fa has passed. May 13--World Falun Dafa Day--the glorious moment that heaven and earth are celebrating together has come again. More than 2,000 Falun Gong practitioners from northern Taiwan gathered at Taipei City Hall Square and did group exercises to celebrate the 14th anniversary of Master starting to spread the Fa and Master's 55th birthday.

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All practitioners appreciate Master's benevolent salvation, and wish Master a happy birthday

On May 13, 1992, Mr. Li Hongzhi held the first Falun Gong lecture to spread Falun Dafa to the public in his hometown--Changchun, Jilin Province. It was like lightening awakening people's conscience and guiding people to return to one's true self. It was the beginning of the spread of Falun Dafa in China and in the whole world. Falun Dafa, also called Falun Gong, teaches people the principle of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance," and cleanses the soul. The five sets of exercises help people to maintain their physical health. In fourteen years, Falun Dafa has already spread to 78 countries. More than 100 million people from different races, young or old, rich or poor, all have benefited from it.

In 2000, to help people to learn about Falun Dafa and to commemorate this great date, Falun Dafa Associations in New York, Washington D.C., Western USA, Mid-USA, Boston, Houston, Southeastern USA, Canada, Germany, France, Switzerland, Sweden, Britain, Taiwan, Australia, Hong Kong, and Singapore decided to set every May 13 as "World Falun Dafa Day." Every May 13, Falun Gong practitioners from all over the world invite their families and friends to celebrate it together.

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Over 2000 Falun Gong practitioners practiced the exercises on Taipei city hall square on May 13.

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On the morning of May 13, the quiet Taipei City Square was filled with joy. Falun Gong practitioners dressed in yellow T-shirts came to the square from different places. Soon, the square was full of people. Practitioners started doing the exercises to the music. The orderly group and peaceful and beautiful movements attracted a lot of pedestrians.

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Performance by young practitioners from Minghui School
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Folk Song singer, Huang Dacheng, also comes to celebrate Master Li's birthday

To celebrate Master's birthday, ten practitioners held a big banner in front of the group and all the practitioners wished Master a happy birthday. Practitioners' sincere voices reached to the heavens. Heaven and Earth celebrate together. Many practitioners shed tears when thinking of Master's benevolent salvation and how much Master has endured for the sentient beings. The scene was very moving.

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Spectators enjoy the performance and celebrate Falun Dafa Day together with practitioners

A new practitioner, who just recently began practicing Falun Dafa, said that she had been looking for the path of cultivation and she had tried many religions. Seeing her mother's big change from cultivating Falun Gong, she also started practicing. This is her first time participating in the celebration of Falun Dafa Day. These days, she reads the sharing articles on the Clearwisdom website, and learned the importance of this date, which is the day that heaven and earth are celebrating together. She felt lucky that she obtained the Fa in Taiwan, where she can freely celebrate Master's birthday in public.

A junior college student said that, when she was in senior high school, she had a tough female teacher, who cares about the material comfort very much. The teacher was very tough, and sometimes mean, so many students disliked her, and many students were afraid of her. But later, this teacher changed dramatically. This student was surprised and asked the teacher why. The teacher said that the change was due to practicing Falun Gong. Since then, this teacher often taught students the principle of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance." Thus, this student also wanted to practice. After reading Zhuan Falun, she realized that this was the book she had been looking for since she was young. This book answered her questions and confusions, and this book turned her into a considerate person from being a selfish person.

Mrs. Huang is a housewife. On May 1, 1995, she saw some ladies doing qigong exercises on the mountain, and she felt that a strong energy was attracting her. Later, she learned the exercises were called Falun Gong. She sensed the strong energy of the practice, so she decided to practice too. She had many concerns and worries before practicing. She always worried about her kids and her husband. After starting cultivating, she learned that everyone has his or her own fate, so her worries were gone. She looked inward when having conflicts with people and kept improving her xinxing level and her capability of forbearance. Now, she lives a free life. On this special day, she really appreciates Master's salvation and giving her a chance to cultivate, which renewed her life.

At the beginning, Falun Dafa was spread by word of mouth in Taiwan. But in 1999, many media reported the "April 25" appeal by 10, 000 practitioners in Beijing, so many people learned about Falun Gong and many people started practicing.

The chair of Taiwan Falun Dafa Association, Professor Chang Ching-hsi said that since Falun Gong doesn't have membership, he estimates that there are about 500 thousand practitioners in Taiwan, and this number is increasing. Practitioners are from different fields and classes. For example, the "Falun Dafa Study Camps for Teachers" held for the past few years in Taiwan attracted many teachers and students from middle schools and elementary schools to practice Falun Gong.

On March 15, 2006, the mayor of Pingtung County, Cao Chi-hong, issued an official document, which asked the Department of Education and related organizations to promote Falun Gong to all the schools in the county, including 39 high schools, 192 elementary schools and 60 pre-schools. In May, the mayor raised the funds to set up Falun Gong classes for older citizens and children. The county government fully supports and praises the social role of Falun Gong, which improves citizens' physical and mental health.

Mrs. Chu, who is a practitioner, mentioned what she heard from the taxi driver on the way to the activity. She said that when the taxi driver saw her yellow T-shirt, which has "Falun Dafa" on it, he showed his respect to Mrs. Wang Wenyi for her courage. The driver condemned the CCP's harvesting organs and other evil policies, such as the "One Child Policy," which has killed a lot of innocent lives. The driver also said that he is interested in learning Falun Gong.

In the afternoon, practitioners held different performances at an outdoor concert in Da'an Forest Park. Colorful balloons and banners were waving along the stage. The park was filled with a happy atmosphere. Colorfully dressed performers and beautiful music from the speakers informed the tourists in the park that the wonderful performance will start. Soon, the outdoor theater was full. Many spectators were standing there, waiting for the performance.

NTDTV's Flag and Drum Team was the first group to perform. The audience applauded for the flying flags and vigorous drumbeats. The beautiful and gentle songs "Open the Window" and "Sound of Hope" by the NTDTV chorus also pleased the audience. Performances by the young practitioners from Minghui School were cute and loved by the audience. Pianist Xie Xiaoqing brought the audience her composition--Nu Wa (A female god in Chinese fairy tales). The soprano, Huang Jiayi sung the song "The Noble Soul in the Wind," which condemns the CCP's harvesting organs and praises Falun Gong practitioners' noble courage. The folk song singer, Huang Dacheng, entertained the audience with his beautiful voice and humorous performing style.

Mrs. Chou from Kaohsiung, was invited by her daughter. This was her first time to attend the celebration of Falun Dafa Day. Although she is not a Falun Gong practitioner, she was very happy to attend this activity before Mother's Day. She enjoyed every performance and thought every one was excellent. The high level performances pleased people and purified one's heart. She is sure that Falun Gong will save a lot of people, especially in the period when the moral standard is crushed. She said that Falun Gong practitioners are kind people And their fields are righteous. Although the weather forecast said a tornado would attack Taipei, the day was fine. Even heaven is helping Falun Gong practitioners.

The MCs of the performance, Zhi Fang, and Xiang Lan, introduced every performance and the deep meaning behind it to the audience. They also performed for the audience. The audience shouted "Falun Dafa is great!" After the concert, many people asked for more information about Falun Gong and said that they were glad to spend such a wonderful afternoon with practitioners.