(Clearwisdom.net) On February 9, 2008, the Chinese New Year Cultural Association, a non-profit organization, held its 11th annual celebration on the campus of the University of California in Sacramento.
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Falun Gong practitioners in the Sacramento area have been participating in this event, which is the largest Chinese celebration in the area, since 2000. The local Chinese population is familiar with Falun Dafa, and many people who attended the celebration came to the Falun Gong booth to obtain information. Many people knew about the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) persecution of Falun Gong.
Mr. Ge came to the US last year. He was a lawyer when he was in China and specialized in criminal law. Many human rights lawyers he knew who defended Falun Gong practitioners were treated inhumanely by the CCP. He knew of one who was forced to divorce his wife and leave his family, whereas some had to stop practicing law, and some had to leave China. Mr. Ge was interested in the practice and stood in front of the booth reading the books and information.
Mr. Moe has been settled in the US for a long time. He said he met many practitioners in New York and was aware that there is no freedom of belief in China.
A Chinese lady wrote down the contact information of the local Falun Gong group. She said she knew about Falun Gong very well because she had received many Falun Gong informational materials when she lived in San Francisco.
Susan is an artist and an American-born Chinese from Sacramento. She doesn't know the Chinese language, but treasures her Chinese roots. She's seen Falun Gong groups in many local cultural events and parades. She expressed an interest to know more about Falun Dafa.
People of many other nationalities came to the booth and took not only English, but also some Chinese materials, wanting to share them with their Chinese friends. A westerner took some information for his wife who had just come to the US from China. He said, "I know about the persecution very well. I have read the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party. I know the Chinese are good people, but the CCP has treated them badly. My wife feels the same way."
Practitioners talked to people from another booth that represented a church. After learning about Falun Gong, one of them encouraged the practitioners to keep up their efforts to raise awareness about the persecution.
A young man from Guangdong Province, China, lingered around the Falun Gong booth for a long time and asked many questions about the practice. In the end, he purchased a copy of Zhuan Falun and said he would read it right away.
A mother and her daughter who came from China came to the booth. The mother said she used to own the books Falun Gong and Zhuan Falun. However, the CCP confiscated the books after the persecution started. The daughter said one of their neighbors used to have cancer. The cancer disappeared after the neighbor began practicing Falun Gong. The daughter told her mother, "Why don't you continue the practice? It is so good!"
The Falun Gong booth faced the front entrance. Many people took pictures of the banner that read, "Falun Dafa Is Good." Falun Gong practitioners gave out a lot of truth-clarification materials, bookmarks, and calendars during the celebration.
