Issued by Clearwisdom Net
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The National Palace Museum (NPM) in Taipei is home to one of the foremost collections of Chinese art in the world. The extensive exhibit includes bronzes, jades, ceramics, lacquerware, curios, calligraphy, paintings, etc. The ages of the collections span over 7000 years. The NPM is a first-class national museum, and is well known worldwide. It attracts many tourists from around the world. Many tourists from Mainland China come to visit the National Palace Museum with admiration. Constant streams of people come here to visit.
In recent years, tourists who came here not only appreciated the priceless Chinese treasures, but they also saw a unique scene. On the plaza in front of the museum, Falun Gong practitioners demonstrated the exercises and distributed flyers. They set up a simple TV system to play video programs documenting Falun Gong's worldwide spread and to show the persecution encountered by practitioners in Mainland China. These Falun Gong practitioners persistently clarify the facts in all weather conditions in the hope that more kind-hearted people will learn the truth about the practice and work together to condemn the severe persecution against Falun Gong in China.
On the morning of July 28, 2005, more than a dozen Falun Gong practitioners from Sanxia, Banqiao, and Shulin joined the truth-clarification activities at the NPM. The landscape surrounding the museum is quite beautiful, and the environment is serene and spacious. Practitioners collaborated with each other and set up the TV and tent, hung banners and displayed materials. In a short while, everything was set up and in good order.
Tourists came successively. Some were Westerners, and some were from Asian countries. As soon as they entered the plaza, they were attracted by the group of Falun Gong practitioners, who were dressed in yellow shirts. Under clear skies and bright sunshine, practitioners' yellow shirts and their ordered practice of the Falun Gong exercises were quite eye-catching. Many tourists took pictures of them as souvenirs.
Practitioners' group practice (In the photo on the left, the first practitioner on the right is a new practitioner, while the practitioner on the left is in his 70s)
Many foreign tourists were very happy to accept the brief introductory materials handed to them by practitioners after they took pictures.
When some people from a Mainland China tourist's group witnessed the scene they shouted, "It's Falun Gong!" Then many mainland tourists took photos. They couldn't believe that people could openly practice Falun Gong. Some people from the tourist group stopped and watched the truth-clarification video programs. In the end, some of them took the initiative to ask for more information materials.
It was a nice day. The sky was clear and the sunshine was bright. Practitioners practiced the Falun Gong exercises with peaceful and serene expressions on their faces under the scorching sun. A Taiwanese tourist stood and watched for quite some time until a practitioner went over to give him some introductory information. He said that he was amazed by practitioners' strong concentration. In such hot weather, they were still able to persist. He said that he was really interested in the practice.
A lady who came with her little daughter was shocked after seeing the photo showing Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Gao Rongrong's disfigured face after being persecuted. She came over to ask for more information. A practitioner patiently explained the persecution facts to her. Her little daughter also listened attentively. After learning the facts, the lady felt very sad and tears emerged from her eyes. She could not understand why a lady who just wanted to be a good person through the practice encountered such inhuman persecution by the Chinese communist officials.
Falun Gong practitioners' persistent truth-clarification at the NPM has allowed numerous people from around the world to learn about the persecution facts. Even more so, many people have started practicing Falun Gong as a consequence. Staff members of the NPM are also moved by practitioners' persistent and selfless efforts. Whenever tourist groups are scheduled to visit the museum, the staff members tell practitioners which country the group is coming from, so that practitioners can prepare truth-clarifying materials in the corresponding languages.
On this day, practitioners practiced the exercises under the hot sun. Their clothes were soaked in their sweat. However, once in a while, there would be a breeze to relieve the heat, as if to encourage practitioners to continue with their efforts in allowing more people to learn about the truth so that "Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance" will be spread to every corner of the world.
 Tourists stop to watch the truth-clarifying video programs |
 Young children join the truth-clarification activity |
 A practitioner carefully prepares equipment for the activity |
The 21st of July 2005 was Belgium National Day, the country's 175th birthday. Local Falun Gong practitioners demonstrated the five sets of Falun Gong exercises in a park in the city centre. They brought the peacefulness and grace of Falun Gong to the Belgian people.
 Practitioners distributing leaflets to passers-by |
 People were attracted by the peaceful exercises |
 A practitioner answering a tourist's questions |
People from all over the country came to Brussels to watch the parade. The city centre park especially attracted many people since it was next to the route of the parade and there were different kinds of activities held there. Among the crowds, Falun Gong practitioners were in an open space in the centre of the park. They were divided into two groups. One group were demonstrating the exercises and the other was distributing flyers to tourists.
Although there were all kinds of activities with different themes that day, people were especially interested in Falun Gong. After practitioners started to practise the exercises, soon there was a crowd of people standing around them. Other practitioners were offering flyers and answering questions. Some people quietly waited for practitioners to give them flyers before they left. Others approached the practitioners to ask for more information.
Lots of people stood reading the flyers and watching the exercises for a long time. A young couple with three children wanted to learn Falun Gong on the spot. Some tourists asked for information on the practice sites where they can learn the exercises for free in their local cities.
Falun Gong practitioners hold activities on Belgian National Day every year. People show more and more interest in Falun Gong every year. The goodness of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance is in the hearts of many Belgians.
Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2005/7/26/106975.html
Around the middle of June 2005, two practitioners spent some of their holiday touring Northern Norway to tell people about the persecution of Falun Gong in China. One of the practitioners was Norwegian and the other was an Englishman who had visited the region on numerous occasions and always felt a special connection with Norway.
The practitioners started their tour together at the tip of the Lofoten islands, an Arctic archipelago of mountainous islands that have become increasingly popular with tourists from around the world. They passed through the cities of Trondheim and Bodo where they handed out leaflets telling people about the human rights abuses against Falun Gong practitioners in China. The tour concluded in the city of Harstad which was hosting the renowned cultural Festival of North Norway.
During the tour, the practitioners visited several villages and towns and handed out many flyers about Falun Gong and the persecution, as well as pinning these leaflets to prominent public notice boards for more people to see. The flyers revealed the systematic nature of the persecution against Falun Gong and how over 2,600 people have already lost their lives. The practitioners took every opportunity to talk with locals, tourists, media reporters and local government about the persecution. Additionally, they were able to teach the exercises to a group of people at a holistic health festival in Harstad.
In the town of Svolv, the principal town of the Lofoten Islands, the practitioners put up a banner and demonstrated the Falun Gong exercises. One practitioner did the exercises while the other distributed leaflets. Many tourists were very happy when they realised that they could receive leaflets in their own language. The practitioners met people from England, Germany, Japan, France, Israel and other countries.
In one youth hostel, the practitioners met three Chinese travellers who were staying in the same place. Initially, they were shocked to find out that Falun Gong was practised all over the world and they had some incorrect ideas that were clearly created by the fabricated anti-Falun Gong propaganda spread by the Chinese Communist Party. After a little chatting, however, something seemed to change within them and they started to ask the practitioners about what Falun Gong really is. It seemed like they realised that what they had heard before was not the truth. They became curious, and wanted to know more. The practitioners had a long and amicable talk with them while eating dinner and they softened as they got to know more about Falun Gong.
In another town named Sortland it was raining heavily, but still almost all the people took flyers and many seemed to be smiling from the bottom of their hearts. It was as if they were deeply happy to have this opportunity to learn about Falun Gong.
The practitioners also visited three regional newspapers to tell the journalists that Falun Gong practitioners in China are facing a brutal persecution, brainwashing, forced labour, torture and even death. They talked about Gao Rongrong, whose face was severely disfigured after hours of torture with electric shock batons by the police. Around a year later, she was killed.
A newspaper called Harstad Tidende, with about 40,000 readers, published an article to let more people know about and to urge people to help stop this persecution. Also a local TV station called TV Halogaland broadcast a five-minute programme where they interviewed one of the practitioners about the persecution, asking why it started and what has actually happened.
The practitioners were really happy to talk to so many people in what was often their first opportunity to learn about Falun Gong. They also feel pleased to have helped the media let even more people know the truth about this brutal and inhuman persecution.