(Clearwisdom.net) On February 10, 2008, a Chinese New Year parade was held in Vancouver's Chinatown. Spectators packed both sides of the road. At the destination of the parade, Falun Gong practitioners in Vancouver, who had not taken part in the parade, took the opportunity to send New Year greetings to fellow Chinese, attracting the attention of many tourists and media outlets. Some holiday-goers had their photos taken with the Falun Gong Divine Land Marching Band, celestial maidens, and waist drummers.

Bringing good wishes to Chinese people

Spokesperson for Falun Gong practitioners in Vancouver Zhang Su said, "Though we were not approved to participate in the parade, Falun Gong practitioners would like to take this grand occasion to send New Year greetings to fellow Chinese. We are here to bring our good wishes to the Chinese people. In addition, we also want to let people know that the cultivation of Falun Gong is one part of China's 5,000 years of long-standing culture. We want to extend our best wishes to people at this Chinese New Year celebration."

When talking about why people from different ethnic background were attracted to practitioners' performance, Zhang Su said, "Falun Gong practitioners practice 'Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.' While people may not have a deeper understanding of its inner meaning, they find the enthusiastic performance of the Divine Land Marching Band and the beautiful music and elegant dances very attractive. This gives them more of an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of Falun Gong."

It is puzzling that practitioners were not approved to participate in the parade

Zhang Su said, "It has been six or seven years that Falun Gong practitioners have applied to participate in the Chinese New Year Parade in Chinatown, but our applications have been rejected every year. Our application this year was also rejected. Each time we have been given explanations that seemed reasonable."

According to the letter from by the Chinatown parade organizing committee this year, the reason they gave for not permitting Falun Gong practitioners to participate was that the parade procession was too crowded to accept new entries.

A Chinese man named James watched Falun Gong practitioners' performances on the square. When he learned that they were refused permission to participate in the parade, he said he did not believe the reason given by the parade organizing committee. James said that some overseas Chinese held some muddled ideas, and "it must be the influence of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and some benefits involved. This incident should be exposed."

When MP Bill Siksay learned that Falun Gong practitioners were refused permission to participate in the Chinese New Year parade, he wrote to the parade preparation committee to ask them to reconsider their application. Bill Siksay stated in his letter that he had been participating in the Chinese New Year parade in recent years, and was moved by its diversity. He has seen Falun Gong participate in other parades in Vancouver, such as in the parade in North Bennabi, where they presented themselves appropriately and were warmly received by the spectators. They also presented the joy of Chinese culture. MP Peter Julian also wrote to the parade preparation committee to ask them to reconsider the practitioners' application.

Mr. Fred Muzin, the president of a trade union representing 42,000 staff members at his hospital, stayed with Falun Gong practitioners on the square to express his support and also wished "Happy Chinese New Year" to everybody. He said that he had written to the preparation committee to ask them to approve Falun Gong practitioners' application, but to no avail. He stayed specifically to express his support for Falun Gong practitioners, because he could not see any proper reason to refuse their entry. He said, "The celebration of Chinese New Year is so splendid, and it has become a part of the multi-cultural aspect of Canada--it can embrace different cultures, that's why Canada is so powerful.

Holiday-goers are pleased to see Falun Gong

It was obvious that many Chinese did not expect to see Falun Gong practitioners perform near the destination of the parade or to receive Chinese New Year's greetings from them. A young couple with their baby in a stroller watched Falun Gong practitioners perform opposite the square. The young man couldn't help saying twice "Falun Gong practitioners send Chinese New Year greetings to fellow Chinese." Many Chinese families had their photos taken with the celestial maidens, waist drummers, and Divine Land Marching Band, and many Chinese stood near or in line with the square to watch the practitioners perform.

Mr. Yu, 66, is from Shanghai. He has been in Canada for three years. He likes the life in Canada. He watched practitioners' performance until the end. He told the reporter that he was pleased to see their' performances.

Westerner: Seeing the deeper meaning of the culture

Vancouver resident Jack Price is a salesman. He and his wife, Della May, are fans of the Divine Land Marching Band. They watched the performances until the end and had their photo taken with the band. Jack said he had noticed the Divine Land Marching Band last time in Chinatown when there was an event supporting 30 million Chinese people quitting the CCP and its affiliated organizations. Today, he and his wife attended the Chinese New Year celebration for the first time. He said that he was very excited and saw the deeper meaning of the culture from the practitioners' performances. His wife said that she was very pleased to experience a completely different culture.

When he heard that the practitioners were not approved to take part in the parade and had decided to present this performance to send Chinese New Year greetings to everyone, Jack said that he was glad that they had come. His wife said that she hoped the practitioners would hold such a performance every year.

Pumi, an overseas student from Korea, just came to Vancouver last Saturday. She came immediately after learning that there would be a Chinese New Year celebration in Chinatown. It was the first time that she had ever seen such an event. She thought the practitioners' group was very unique, and she was very excited. She had her photo taken with the band, the celestial maidens, and the waist drummers from different angles.

Sara from Brazil was also very excited. She and her husband had their photo taken with celestial maidens and waist drummers. She said that it was her first time to see the Chinese New Year celebration. She was very interested and thought the practitioners' group was so colorful and nice that she wanted to have her photo taken with them.