Oct 13 2001 12:00AM

A group of Falun Gong practitioners stopped in Watsonville Thursday afternoon to hand out fliers and demonstrate their practice as part of an educational walk from Los Angeles to San Francisco.

"We want to raise awareness of the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China," said Qing Ma, one of the walkers. The group held signs and passed out fliers outside city hall Thursday.

Falun Gong followers say the Chinese government is persecuting and torturing people who practice the teaching. Two hundred eighty-three Falun Gong followers have been reported tortured to death while in police custody, but many estimate that number is more than 1,000.

The group left Los Angeles Sept. 21 and will arrive in San Francisco Friday, Oct. 19. Walking an average of 20 miles a day, the group is accompanied by support vans which provide them with a chance to rest and transportation when there is no safe area to walk.

Originally they had planned to walk along Highway 101 throughout the whole trip, but there were not enough walking paths, so they followed Highway 1 to Watsonville, where they will take Highway 152 to Gilroy. The mayor of Gilroy will walk with the group for a few miles Friday afternoon.

The group is not accepting donations, although people have offered. Ma said the group is funding itself and hopes people wanting to get involved will write a congressperson or send donations to the Friends of Falun Gong, a non-profit organization designed to help the followers.

In San Francisco the group is joining another team of walkers from Seattle. The walkers are part of the SOS Rescue Walk, an event to raise awareness for followers imprisoned or persecuted for their beliefs.

Ma said people along the route have supported the walkers. The mayor of Santa Maria gave them a proclamation in support of their cause, while along the way people have joined the walk, wanting to learn more about the practice.

Falun Gong practitioners do not call it a religion but a way of life. "It's very peaceful, very healthy," Ma said. "We follow the principles of truthfulness, compassion and forbearance."

Li Hongzhi, a contender for the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize, founded the practice.

Mingjing Xue spoke to the small crowd Thursday afternoon about her detention in a drug abuse rehabilitation center. Xue was jailed twice, for a total of 104 days, for refusing to stop practicing Falun Gong. During that time she was tortured, chained to other Falun Gong believers and denied food and water.

"My story is just one of hundreds of thousands of human rights abuses," Xue said through translator Wan-jin Lin.

The walk is focused on raising awareness for Dr. Chunyan Teng, a doctor and professor of traditional Chinese medicine. Teng was arrested for giving photos of abused Falun Gong followers to the Western media. She is the only permanent U.S. resident to be tried, sentenced and imprisoned for practicing Falun Gong.

Jessica Anador, one of the walkers, said, "I don't think we really understand this in America. We're doing this to let people know this is a great practice and people are being tortured for it."

The Friends of Falun Gong Web site is www.fofg.org

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