On August 25th & 26th, San Francisco Bay area Falun Dafa practitioners participated in the biggest Northern California Chinese Street Festival in the Oakland, California Chinatown. With more than 250 booths of international culinary delights, arts, crafts, music, the festival spanned 10 blocks. Starting from 9am, lots of visitors had already arrived, even though the Festival officially started at 10 AM. During the peak time, people were constantly flowing through streets and alleys.
The weather was very nice during both days. We reserved 2 booth spaces and combined them together to form a large booth.
By giving away videotapes along with "Returning Journey" booklets, we let as many people as possible to know the truth about the "self-immolation" incident staged by the Jiang Zemin regime.
Foot traffic increased quickly after 9:30am. Many people came straight to our booth asking for the package. It was interesting to distinguish several types of visitors:
Some were very interested and had an open mind. They showed their sympathy towards those who have lost their lives and those who are suffering in China. They either came straight to our booth, or whole-heartedly accepted our packages after listening to a few words from us.
Some were not sure whether to accept our package, even after we explained what the package was about. It was sad to see them come so close and yet pass the opportunity of a lifetime.
Some either cursed at us, or simply turned away, pretending they never saw us.
I tried to look straight into their eyes when I spoke to them. Even though there was still a bit of uneasiness in my heart. With each package we handed out, that bit of uneasiness was replaced by a bit more compassion.
At the end of the Festival, we gave away more than 5,000 Cantonese version and over 800 Mandarin version videotapes. Over 8,000 "Return Journey" booklets and more than 5,000 newspapers were also given out. We also offered different kinds of flyers, workshop announcements, etc.
Many vendors surrounded us are vying for the attention of potential customers by offering something "free". I saw a booth not too far from ours that attracted a long line of people trying their chance of "spinning the wheel" to win something. Another long line was for a vendor who turned out to be passing out free light bulbs by a local power company. Isn't this a vivid manifestation of what teacher described as the mentality of the current society? It seems that people are always trying to get something free.
On the other hand, people who visited our booth also received our package free of charge. Yet, I felt that what we gave them was truly priceless. It is a package that saves people.
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