(Clearwisdom.net) Chinatowns are closely connected to expatriate Chinese people and the Chinese way of life. A few years ago, Falun Gong practitioners set up a voluntary teaching and materials center in Chinatown in Houston, Texas, which has drawn the attention and support of Chinese people and many other citizens. It has become a notable part of Chinatown.

Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa) is a cultivation way of both mind and body. In May 1992, Mr. Li Hongzhi introduced it to people in China and has since made it available to people all over the world. Chinese people in Houston started practicing Falun Gong, and Falun Gong books could be found on the shelves in Chinese and English bookstores. In October 1996, Mr. Li Hongzhi was invited to Houston to teach Falun Dafa. While Mr. Li was there, the Mayor of Houston proclaimed October 12, 1996 as Li Hongzhi Day. The local media would report when Falun Gong practitioners were holding free seminars. The local Chinese people actively registered to study Falun Gong.

On July 20, 1999, out of jealousy, Jiang Zemin used the Communist Party resources to initiate the persecution of Falun Gong in China. The state-controlled media broadcast propaganda throughout the whole country to spread rumors, defamation, and lies. The local media and media outside of China repeated the untruthful information, which had a very negative impact on Houston's Chinese population. In order to clarify the truth and expose the persecution, Falun Gong practitioners started handing out truth-clarification materials in Chinatown. Later, some Falun Gong practitioners found that many Chinese people went to Chinatown on weekends. So, in early 2003 the practitioners set up a Falun Gong information and exercise instruction site, which operates every Saturday from 10:30 am to 1:00 pm and is always at the same location, to clarify the truth to the Chinese people.

Soon after the information site was set up, the local Chinese people came to check it out. At first, since some Chinese people had heard the lies fabricated by Jiang's regime, they came with preconceived ideas and were suspicious.

One day, a man walked up, tapped a Falun Gong practitioner's shoulder and said, "Young man, I have lived for over 50 years. You are still young, don't listen to this." So our practitioner started clarifying the truth to him. Initially, the man didn't trust what the practitioner said, and he refused to take any of the offered information. But he kept coming back and listening, and he began to be interested in the healing effects of Falun Gong. After he heard many true stories, he began to believe them. Eventually, he took a VCD and said, "In order to learn about Falun Gong, I'll buy a DVD player to watch the truth about Falun Gong."

Another man came over to the information desk. He started swearing, "You guys have made the Chinese people lose face!" One practitioner said to this person, "During the Chinese Cultural Revolution, over half of the families in China were affected. If you were one of them, wouldn't you want someone to speak up for you? In China, the media defame and spread rumors about Falun Gong to deceive people. If we, as Falun Gong practitioners, don't speak up for ourselves, who will speak up for us?" After hearing those words, the man had nothing more to say.

When practitioners introduced Falun Gong to an older woman in a wheelchair, she smiled and took some information home. After that, every time she passed by the information site, she would take some materials with a smile. Time after time, she did the same thing. After a while, when she came by, she was not in a wheelchair any more and was using a walker, which she set aside. She stood up and picked up some of the materials from the desk.

One time, a Chinese person came to the information center and excitedly said to the practitioners, "I finally found you!" Then he started talking about his predestined relationship with Falun Gong: "In the past, when I was in China, I liked to explore the mysteries of life. A year ago, when I saw Falun Gong in the Chinese Epoch Times newspaper, I was very excited; it was what I had been longing for. There was a voice in my head saying, 'You should study Falun Gong.' Then, I began to practice Falun Gong. Soon after I had diarrhea ." The practitioner told him, "That was a symptom of your body being purified." A practitioner suggested that he read Zhuan Falun. Later, this man came back and told the practitioner, "I spent four days reading Zhuan Falun. I felt a magical transformation of my body. I used to have problems with my sides and my legs. When I was reading the book, my whole body felt very comfortable, and I didn't feel like smoking cigarettes. It has been almost a week since I quit smoking. It is truly amazing!."

After a young man received Falun Gong materials at the information center, he said, "Falun Gong is so important to me, I was predestined to obtain the Fa." Then he located a practice site close to his home, and started attending the regular group exercise. He has been doing that for 6 months now. He said, "Even though I am behind the veteran practitioners, I will do my best. I will continue to study the Fa and do the exercises. In particular, I understand the importance of studying the Fa. I will help my friends and other people to form predestined relationships with Zhuan Falun." He also said, "Sometimes, I bring my young daughter to the park where we do the exercises. I tell my daughter, 'This is where your Dad comes often to practice Falun Gong.'"

One day, a practitioner received a phone call from a company owner in Louisiana who said, "I have an employee who used to live in Houston, and he obtained a VCD about Falun Gong. Later, he came to work for me and introduced me to how good Falun Gong is. After I watched the VCD, I thought Falun Gong was great." Since this employee had told me, 'I only have one VCD, which is very precious,' would you mind mailing some to me?"

The wide spread of Falun Gong and practitioners' truth-clarification efforts have enabled some Chinese people to understand the facts about Falun Gong. One Chinese person said to practitioners, "What you are doing is very virtuous."

There was a manager who, after listening to two practitioners clarifying the truth to him, and hearing about Zhuan Falun on the radio, said, "Falun Gong is good." He added, "The existence of Falun Gong shows the true conscience of all Chinese people; it is the hope for human rights everywhere." From then on, he often came to the information site. Whenever Chinese people came for information about Falun Gong, he helped practitioners to clarify the truth by talking about his own experiences. He is very supportive of Falun Gong.

In the past, as soon as delegations from China saw Falun Gong practitioners, they would turn around and walk the other way. However, over the past few years that Falun Gong practitioners have been rationally exposing and opposing the persecution, this situation has changed. One time, a Chinese delegation passed by the information site and some members said, "We have known that the Chinese Communist Party CCP is bad for a long time." Some expressed their admiration of Falun Gong practitioners. Some said, "I heard that you sued Jiang Zemin." They didn't want to miss this opportunity, and they all took Falun Gong truth clarification materials.

Chinese people in Chinatown come and go. More and more have come to understand Falun Gong, and some have become regular customers of the information center.

March 23, 2005