Practitioners demonstrating Falun Gong exercises in Chinatown, New York	Practitioners in the parade	Practitioners carrying the wreath which says "Mourning" -- mourning the loss of 193 innocent lives

[ClearWisdom Net] April 21, 2001 -- More than 500 Falun Dafa practitioners from overseas and various states of the United States gathered in New York today and attended the first day of the 2001 New York Falun Dafa Experience Sharing Conference. They were here to share their experiences of practicing Falun Dafa, and at the same time, appeal to the kind-hearted people to call on Jiang Zemin to stop the brutal persecution against Falun Gong practitioners in China.

Today's events started with a large-scale group demonstration of the 5 sets of Falun Dafa exercises in New York's famous Chinatown. Practitioners' graceful movement attracted many pedestrians, as well as tourists and local residents. After the exercise demonstration, practitioners conducted a peaceful parade. With the accompaniment of the solemn music, practitioners, who were dressed mainly in bright yellow T-shirts or sweaters bearing the message "China: Stop persecuting Falun Gong" or "Falun Dafa is Good", marched through the Chinatown. They held banners of "Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance", "Stop the Killing in China", etc. The entire parade attracted many passersby who remarked at the peacefulness and discipline the practitioners showed.

Very soon, the parade encountered interference from a small group of Chinese people, most of them male. A few of them were wearing suits and talking on walkie-talkies. A number of them were holding up signs and giving out printed flyers slandering Falun Gong. They also stood on the street corner and shouted in their harsh voices, parroting the words used by Jiang Zemin's regime.

One practitioner approached a Chinese man who was part of this group of hecklers and held out a flyer. This guy's responded by saying in Chinese: "They gave me 20 bucks to be here; what can you give me?"

Their frenzy and antagonism was in stark contrast to practitioners' peaceful parade and practice. By showing themselves to be such a loud and disruptive group, they brought even more positive attention to practitioners' serene practice. Many more people in Chinatown willingly accepted practitioners' flyers and even gave practitioners words of encouragement, like: "What you're doing is good. Don't give up."

Later in the evening, the practitioners held group study and informal discussions at Sheraton Hotel in midtown, New York City.

New York Practitioners

April 21^st, 2001