(Minghui.org) Falun Gong participated in the annual Thanksgiving Parade in Chicago for the 12th year on November 16, 2015. While the parade has become a much-anticipated annual event for many local residents, for many new Chinese students, this was their first Thanksgiving, and their first opportunity to encounter Falun Gong at a public event. It was a bit of a surprise for some of them, since those who practice Falun Gong in China are persecuted for their beliefs.
Falun Gong participates in Thanksgiving Parade in Chicago.
A lotus flower float
Chicago's Thanksgiving Parade is one of the largest in the nation, second only to Macy's parade in New York City. Nearly a quarter million spectators line the streets of Chicago, while millions more see the parade via live television broadcasts.
The Falun Gong procession featured a lotus-flower-themed float with people from many walks of life demonstrating the Falun Gong exercises on board. A dozen or so women in traditional Chinese costumes followed along performing lotus flower dances.
Many Chinese students lined the parade route, and some recorded the Falun Gong and other parade entries on their cellphones.
One group of 10 Chinese students from the University of Michigan were intrigued to see Falun Gong and the parade for the first time since they came to America.
One of them named Huang said that he wished the Falun Gong procession was longer so he could have more time to see them.
Another named Wu commented that he was surprised to learn that Falun Gong is freely practiced around the world because the group has been persecuted in his native China for the past 16 years.
