(Minghui.org)
The Problem
I was recently reading articles written by practitioners from China and learned that many of them had visited Taiwan. They saw tour guides there who were slandering Falun Gong and preventing the Chinese tourists from accepting flyers that clarified the truth.
I saw this happening myself at a tourist spot while I was there explaining the facts. I was very worried about those sentient beings, so I spoke with our coordinators about this.
Working to Make Things Right
The coordinators for the local Falun Gong organization wrote letters to clarify the truth to the Tourist Guide Association Bureau and asked them to share the letter with the tourist bureau and tour guides. Their response was positive and they accepted what we said.
The Tourist Guide Association Bureau replied, “Taiwan is a democracy and follows the rule of law. The travel industry and tour guides should respect the freedom of tourists to decide whether they wish to communicate with various groups and obtain information, without intervention, so as to protect their rights and preserve the values of freedom and democracy.”
Some practitioners included portions of this statement on their signs to clarify the truth. The signs attracted many tourists and had a positive impact. This raised the issue of why tour guides were intervening and trying to stop the tourists from accepting materials and talking with practitioners in the first place.
Responses Vary
Some tour guides had a positive response to the signs and some did not. One sign said, “Please Do not Intervene and Stop Tourists From China from Accepting Falun Dafa Materials.” Some tour guides felt they were not stopping visitors from learning the facts and asked us to take the signs down. Some guides who were interfering with visitors felt bad when they saw the signs.
The coordinators also displayed the letter from the Tourist Association Bureau, which was sent to each tourism bureau, so that they would know that visitors were free to learn about Falun Gong without the guides intervening.
Gaoxiong practitioners started out by going to a tourism company to clarify the truth to them. Practitioners from Tainan, Taizhong, Taipei, and Taoyuan also helped. They also visited tour companies in other towns and cities, tourist associations, and airports to clarify the facts. After this, several tour guides stopped preventing visitors from talking with Falun Gong practitioners, and their attitudes improved.
However, some of the tour guides were pressured by their companies and said bad things about Falun Gong on their bus tours. We sent a message to the Minghui website and asked practitioners from China to verify this.
A Need for More Thorough Explanations
We realized that we needed to clarify the truth more deeply. Since some tour guides continue spreading lies to visitors, we need to do something to stop this form of persecution.
I would like to call on the practitioners who clarify the truth at tourist sites, as well as those that don't, to please take everyone opportunity to clarify the truth to the tourist industry, tour companies, tourist instructors, and tourist drivers to allow visitors from China to learn the truth about Falun Gong.
The Divine Land Marching Band and coordinators in other towns and cities could book tour buses and clarify the truth to tour company managers, since they influence the tour guides.
If we encounter significant resistance while clarifying the truth and helping sentient beings to withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), or if we encounter a disturbance, we should write down the tour guides' names, telephone numbers, and the tour bus number, as well as name of the tour companies, and ask other coordinators to help. If tour guides attempt to attack us, we should call the police.
We should show our compassion and talk to them in a friendly way when we clarify the truth. We need to put ourselves in their shoes. Several practitioners here are very good at persuading people to withdraw from the CCP. They usually chat casually to people and then start to clarify the truth and tell them why they need to quit the Party. Visitors feel at ease, and they agree to quit.
I usually smile and talk to the tour guides. I chat with them and ask, “Do you support Falun Gong?” If they don't, I try to find out why not and help them to understand. When I encounter a tour guide who prevents practitioners from talking to the tourists from China, I walk over to him and say to him quietly, “Sir, please help them to learn about Taiwan's democracy. Help them to choose the truth freely.” We should send righteous thoughts to the tour guides to help achieve good results.
When some tour guides frown at us, it may seem hard to talk to them. When this happens, I smile and wave: “Hi! You're doing a great job! Please support Falun Gong!” This has a positive effect, and the tour guide then often relaxes and smiles. A friendly greeting and a smile help both the tour guides and the visitors see the kindness of practitioners.
A new practitioner who works as a tour guide reminded us not to argue or fight with the guides at the tourist attractions. We should be very kind, no matter how we are treated. When we are treated unfairly, we should follow Dafa's standard to improve our xinxing, and our environment will improve.
I understand that the evil is frightened when practitioners coordinate together as one body. Thus, if we share our understandings and form strong righteous thoughts at each tourist spot, in each town or city, we'll form a strong body.
The above is my personal understanding. Please kindly point out anything improper.
