(Minghui.org) On February 10, 2024, practitioners celebrated the first day of the Chinese New Year by doing the Falun Dafa exercises near the San Francisco Ferry Building and distributing information about the spiritual discipline.

Practitioners held an event on the first day of Chinese New Year to tell people about Falun Dafa.

The Ferry Building and the adjacent farmers’ market are popular tourist attractions. Under the clear blue skies and bright sunshine, practitioners demonstrated the Falun Dafa exercises. The soothing music and their graceful movements attracted many pedestrians, who stopped to observe and ask about Falun Dafa. Many people thanked practitioners for telling them about Falun Dafa and wished them “Happy New Year!”

Mr. and Mrs. Babaj from India recently moved to San Francisco. After observing practitioners’ graceful movements, Mr. Babaj asked, “Can we join you?” When the practitioner offered to show them how to do the exercises, they were very excited. Mrs. Babaj stood beside a practitioner and started learning the hand movements. After she finished, she said she would learn how to practice Falun Dafa.

Mrs. Babaj was happy to learn the exercise movements.

Some people asked where the nearest practice sites were. When they heard that Falun Dafa originated in China but cannot be practiced there due to the persecution, they condemned the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) for persecuting and incarcerating practitioners.

Bill said he’d lived in San Francisco for more than 40 years and had heard about Falun Dafa but did not know much about it. After hearing more about Falun Dafa and how the CCP persecutes it, Bill condemned the persecution and expressed his desire to learn more about Falun Dafa.

A passerby (left) reads an informational flyer.

A family from Sweden said they were attracted by the graceful exercises, and the two daughters did the movements. Their mother Iva said the girls often meditate. Practitioners told the family they could learn the exercises online and that there were many audio and video teaching materials in different languages available online for free. The family said they would look into learning how to practice Falun Dafa.

A Swedish family vacationing in San Francisco stopped to talk with practitioners.

Ms. Sonia, a visitor from the UK, was attracted to the peaceful scene. She said her deep passion for Chinese culture inspired her to visit China. After learning about the cruel persecution of practitioners in China, Sonia decried the Party’s actions and said she intended to start practicing Falun Gong after returning to the UK.