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September 5 was the first day of the United Nations Millenium Summit. Leaders of all U.N. member nations were staying at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in midtown Manhattan. Chinas president arrived there as well on September 4.
The previous days heavy rainstorms left behind an unusually cool atmosphere, like that of early fall. Early in the morning, over 300 Falun Dafa practitioners from all over the world came to attend the breakfast meeting in the CAF ST. BARTS in front of Waldorf Hotel. This cafeteria is partly outdoors. Many practitioners went to the outdoor patio to perform a group practice after the breakfast. Practitioners wore the yellow T-shirts with the words of "CHINA: STOP PERSECUTING FALUN GONG", "FALUN DAFA IS GOOD" and "CHINA: FREE THE JAILED FALUN GONG PRACTITIONERS".
At this time, something interesting happened. The Chinese leaders were having a press conference inside the hotel, and had completely sealed the windows with curtains. A reporter felt that it was poorly illuminated inside, so he went to a window and lifted the curtain. He suddenly saw the scene across the street. There were about 300 Falun Gong practitioners dressed in yellow T-shirts demonstrating exercises together. He was excited to see this, and called everybody to take a look. Such a large-scale demonstration drew a lot of interest from reporters, and they surged in front of the windows to start video-taping the practitioners practicing. The bodyguards of Chinese highest officials then pulled the curtains back in a hurry and rudely drove this reporter out of the press conference. Some fair-minded reporters who were present felt that this was a serious overreaction, and left immediately. As a result, reporters from CNN and Associated Press came to interview the Falun Gong practitioners. A reporter told Falun Gong practitioners about the episode upstairs and said, "This is a free country." Perhaps he meant that in this country, reporters are free to report or not to report a certain piece of news, people are free to open the window, and free to practice the exercise of their choice. Some onlookers commented, "Its difficult to change this Chinese leaders nature. This time he not only failed to discredit Falun Gong, but actually caused reporters to interview Falun Gong practitioners instead of himself and he made a fool of himself."
Some pedestrians watched our practice. They were very happy to see us. Some stopped to ask us questions and requested Falun Dafa materials. They also asked, "Are you coming back here tomorrow?" "We want to practice too!" or "Where can I learn Falun Gong?" There are still many people waiting to obtain Dafa!
After the breakfast meeting, the practitioners gradually left Waldorf Hotel for the activities elsewhere in Manhattan. On the way, many people greeted our practitioners warmly, and expressed their support to us. Practitioners also stopped to talk to the pedestrians. Some policemen asked about Falun Gong as well, and showed their support and understanding of Falun Dafa. A young Italian man leaned halfway out of the window of a shop and said enthusiastically, "We support you!" Practitioners replied with sincere smiles. An elderly eastern man was a bit puzzled and asked with regret, "I know you. You are Falun Gong. You organized very well here, why couldn't you organize better in China?" Practitioners smiled with understanding and started to answer his questions in details.
The breakfast meeting was naturally combined with activities of spreading the Fa. Actually what we practitioners are doing now all starts from the standpoint of the Fa. It is imperative at the present time to tell the truth of Falun Gong to more people and enable the whole world to better understand Falun Dafa, so that they can make a wise choice that can really benefit them, their people, and their countries.
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