(Minghui.org) Practitioners participated in the Astoria Festival on August 7, 2022. They demonstrated the Falun Dafa exercises, introduced the practice and distributed informational flyers and handmade paper lotus flowers. They also told people how the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) has persecuted the spiritual practice for 23 years.

The city of New York hosts many street fairs during the summer which are popular with local residents and tourists. Practitioners’ bright yellow t-shirts and the melodious exercise music attracted many people at the annual festival in Astoria.

Practitioners demonstrate the Falun Dafa exercises during the Astoria Festival.

Practitioners tell people about Falun Dafa.

Despite the scorching summer weather, the fair was busy and people stopped to talk with practitioners. They introduced the practice to people and petitioned for signatures to help end the persecution. The peaceful scene attracted the attention of many New Yorkers who accepted flyers and some asked to learn the exercises.

A man from France was strolling around the street fair and asked to learn the exercises. He asked where the nearest practice site was and before he left he thanked practitioners.

A man from France asked to learn the exercises.

A couple wanted to learn the practice on spot. After learning the first two standing exercises, they expressed their gratitude and asked for some informational flyers and where the group practice sites were. They chatted with practitioners for a long time.

A couple learns the exercises.

Practitioners were also able to talk to many Chinese restaurant workers. The Chinese people were happy to see Falun Dafa practitioners and felt that their being there showed people Chinese culture. After learning the truth about Falun Dafa, many people were moved by practitioners’ compassion and asked to take a picture with them.

A local man takes a picture with a Falun Dafa practitioner.

Background: What Is Falun Dafa and Why Is the CCP Persecuting It?

Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) was first introduced to the public by Mr. Li Hongzhi in Changchun, China, in 1992. The spiritual discipline is now practiced in over 100 countries and regions worldwide. Millions of people who have embraced the teachings, which are based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, and have learned the five exercises, have experienced improved health and well-being.

Jiang Zemin, former head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), perceived the spiritual discipline’s growing popularity as a threat to the CCP’s atheistic ideology and on July 20, 1999, he issued an order to eradicate the practice.

Under Jiang’s personal direction, the CCP established the 610 Office, an extralegal security organization with the power to override the police and judicial systems and whose sole function is to carry out the persecution of Falun Dafa.

Minghui.org has confirmed the deaths of thousands of practitioners as a result of the persecution over the past 23 years. The actual number is believed to be much higher. Countless practitioners have been imprisoned and tortured for their faith.

There is concrete evidence that the CCP sanctions the harvesting of organs from detained practitioners, who are murdered to supply China’s organ transplant industry.