Saturday, December 2nd, greeted the Cherry Festival Parade that takes place annually in Young City, Australia. Over 40 practitioners from Sydney drove 4 hours to get there and to take part in this special event.
That day, more than 30 different groups participated in the Cherry Festival Parade. This event attracted many local residents and tourists who lined up along the streets to watch the parade. Our Falun Gong Group was composed of a colorful wagon and over 40 practitioners. With a huge "Zhuan Falun" book model on it and decorated with colorful ribbons and balloons, the wagon was especially eye-catching. When practitioners approached the crowd and handed out the truth materials, the crowd gave them big applause and happily accepted the materials.
Two days before this one-week event started, the practitioner who was taking care of the preparation work received a notice from the city government saying that they were not allowed to take part in this event. Soon this practitioner learned it was the Chinese Consulate that was placing pressure on the Young City government. The Consulate spread rumors and threatened to cut off Young city's economic interests in China. Faced with this, practitioners did not give up. On the day that the Festival started, some practitioners went to the city government to clarify the truth and some distributed lots of materials to local residents. After learning the truth, the city government sent out an invitation letter to practitioners despite the pressure from China.
The Cherry Festival in Young City not only led many predestined people to hear Falun Dafa and gave the town government the chance to learn the truth about Falun Gong, but it also exposed to the world the crimes that Jiang Zemin and his accomplices are committing, thus making it possible for more people to learn the truth about Falun Gong.
Practitioners in Sydney
December 3, 2000