(Minghui.org) The 34^th Annual Steppin' Out Festival in Blacksburg, VA, was held on August 1- 2. More than 200 artists and craftspeople displayed their work at the event. Local Falun Gong practitioners provided exercise instruction and raised awareness about the persecution in China.

People learning the exercises.

Demonstrating the exercises

Virginia Tech student Sebi Brown learned all five sets of Falun Gong exercises.

Sebi Brown, a senior student at Virginia Tech, spent two hours learning the five sets of Falun Gong exercises.

“I could not hold my legs in the double-lotus position, but I felt great while doing the meditation. A strong energy field surrounded me. I would recommend this to anyone,” Sebi said.

He took a stack of informational materials for his friends. “They will like it too,” he said.

Charles, a local citizen, was shocked upon learning about the persecution of Falun Gong. “I knew about the government corruption in China, but I never heard about the organ harvesting. It is so brutal.” He expressed his support for practitioners' peaceful resistance against the persecution.

Many Chinese tourists stopped at the practitioners' booth. A young man had a lot of questions about Falun Gong. He stayed for an hour to chat and said he was glad to have a chance to talk with practitioners and finally clear up the many questions in his mind about the practice and the persecution.

A Chinese student, Rui, had never seen Falun Gong firsthand before. “In China, we had no chance to learn what Falun Gong really is. All we learned about Falun Gong were lies,” Rui said. “I wish I had met you earlier.”