About 20 Practitioners including Chang Xi from Beijing; Wan Liang, Xiao Yan from Jiangxi; Li Qiang from Hebei; and Liu Gang from Jiangsu decided to go to Tiananmen at 11am on November 13th. They planned to validate Dafa on the Bridge of the Golden Stream in front of the Tiananmen Gate.
It was a bright, clear sunny day. Around 10:45am, four or five unfamiliar female practitioners opened their "Falun Dafa Is Good" banner. Observing the police charging towards them, Liu Gang decided on the spot to open his own banner, "Truthfulness, Benevolence, Forbearance". At the same time Chang Xi, Wan Liang, Li Qiang also took this opportunity to unfold their banners "Falun Dafa", "Fa Rectifies Human World", "Falun Turns Forever". Caught off guard, the police at the Bridge of the Golden Stream called for reinforcements while trying frantically tried to arrest all the Dafa practitioners.
Facing the police up front, Liu Gang was beaten badly on the face and lost his glasses. A little girl witnessing this scene there asked her mother what was happening. Her mother replied in a loud voice: "This is Falun Gong Fa Rectification!" As practitioners we were extremely gratified to hear acceptance from the ordinary people around us.
It did not take long for the police to seize Chang Xi's three-and-a-half foot long banner. He quickly took out another slightly smaller banner about two-and-a-half feet long. Chang Xi maneuvered away from the chasing police several times. After the second banner was snatched away, he pulled out yet another banner, which was backed with double-sided tape. He fastened it to a column and managed to recite the words on it twice:
"The Law of Heaven brooks no dispute. Free the Faithful, recognize the excellence of Dafa", before being surrounded by police. As they dragged him off he kept shouting, "Falun Dafa is Good!"
On the other side of the gate, Xiao Yan and her group of five practitioners circled the crowd of police, and then each one opened a small banner. While running they shouted: "Falun Dafa is Good!" "Falun Dafa is Righteous!" Police tried to grab the banners. After catching one practitioner the police would attempt to get another one. Usually the first practitioner would seize this opportunity to escape. Xiao Yan held her banner high and ran around for about 50 to 60 meters before losing her banner to the police. She herself was able to escape.
The practitioners finally got back home at 3pm that afternoon. Only six of them made it, including Chang Xi and Xiao Yan. They were pretty sure that the other 14 practitioners of the group were all arrested.
On the same day there were other unfamiliar practitioners who were taken into custody. According to the practitioners returning from Tiananmen Square, at least 30 practitioners were arrested there. Together with those who were arrested at the Bridge the total approached more than 50.
Liu Gang, Li Qiang and Wan Liang also carried with them posters backed with double side tape. They were determined to post the banners onto the police car, at the police station and even inside prisons...
Dafa practitioner, 2000/11/13
(Note: All the names in this article have been changed, in order to protect the innocent from further persecution.)
