(Clearwisdom.net) July 4 is Independence Day, and Americans all over the U.S. hold various activities to celebrate this important holiday. Among them, the Independence Day parades best represent the cultural diversity of the U.S. and people's celebration of democracy and freedom. Dallas practitioners recently participated in the Independence Day parade in Arlington, Texas. The practitioners' magnificent procession and peaceful and elegant demeanor were well-received by the public.
According to the parade organizers, the Arlington parade is the largest Independence Day parade in Texas. The 40th Arlington parade had more than 150 groups participating and was more than 2 miles long. Besides tens of thousands spectators who lined up on the parade route, even more people watched and listened at home as local TV and radio stations broadcasted the parade live. Within one week, the parade will be broadcast several times again. Falun Gong was the only Chinese group in the parade. Their magnificent procession attracted both spectators and media's attention.
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Practitioners' procession attracted the audience
A Story about the float
In the past several years, Dallas practitioners have participated in many Independence Day parades in nearby cities to showcase the beauty of Falun Dafa. As this Arlington parade was so big, practitioners decided to make an even better float to better display beauty of Falun Dafa. They started to prepare for the parade in the beginning of June.
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Practitioners' float
However, at sunset on the day before the parade, while practitioners were about to start their decoration work on the float, the practitioner who went to pick up the trailer came back and told everyone that the company was already closed. It turned out that the scheduled pick-up time was after the closing time, and surprisingly the agent didn't tell the practitioners.
No one complained about anything, and practitioners who came to help with the decorations didn't leave, either. At that moment, some practitioners sent righteous thoughts, some called the rental company seeking possible solutions, and some drove out to look for an alternative trailer.
All of sudden, a practitioner saw a trailer parked at the roadside with dimensions almost identical to the one to be rented. The practitioner then called the owner with the contact information on the vehicle. She told the owner the situation and asked if the trailer could be borrowed for the parade. The owner said yes! The practitioner asked: "Do you trust me? Can you lend your trailer without seeing me in person?" The owner was laughing at the other end.
After obtaining permission to use this trailer, some practitioners, including children, started to decorate it. There was a lot of work to do and practitioners didn't leave until 10 p.m.
The surrounding of the trailer was decorated with red white and blue, the three colors of the American national flag; the top was covered with a green carpet, on which many lotus flowers were attached; on both sides of the float, 2 signs reading "Falun Dafa" were displayed. Several practitioners in yellow suites demonstrated the graceful Falun Gong exercises on the float.
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Practitioners' float
After the parade, practitioners took photos of the float and truth-clarifying materials to the owner of the trailer to thank him and tell him about Falun Dafa. The owner was delighted and thanked the practitioners for the information.
Practitioners' Magnificent Procession
Most local practitioners arranged their time to participate in this event. Several practitioners from Austin and San Antonio also came to join the parade.
Arlington has a relatively large Chinese community, and many Chinese were not surprised to see the practitioners' procession. Some also greeted practitioners, some exclaimed: "Falun Gong."
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Practitioners' procession
The practitioners' procession was led by three female practitioners who hoisted a "FALUN DAFA--Meditation for Mind and Body" banner. Then came a Tang drum troupe made up of 9 practitioners. After the drum troupe, there was a giant model of the book, Zhuan Falun and then came the float. The dance troupe of six female practitioners performed pure and graceful dances right after the float. At the end of the procession, several practitioners carried another giant "Falun Dafa-Truthfulness Compassion Forbearance" banner.
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"I want to learn Falun Gong"
Before the parade started, practitioners held a group practice in the parking lot where people from other groups could come to request materials.
A family of three came to participate in the parade. The couple said that they had not heard about Falun Gong. A practitioner then gave then a flier. The other member was an older lady. When she heard practitioner saying that they were doing Falun Gong exercises, she asked: "Can you go back to China now?" The practitioner was surprised, he asked: "It seems that you know what is happening in China and know about the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong." The lady said that she learned the news from a newspaper. She said: "I don't know why China does such a terrible thing."
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During the parade, the host introduced Falun Gong to the audience several times, saying that Falun Gong is a practice of mind and body and offers free workshops at the local library every month. Because the parade didn't allow flyer distribution, a lady who wanted to learn saved the "Falun Dafa" characters in her cell phone. Later, she talked with another practitioner and obtained a contact number. She said: "I want to learn Falun Gong."
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Practitioners' procession attracts local media
After the parade was over, there were still people coming for information.
