(Clearwisdom.net) On July 4, the U.S. Independence Day, the 100^th annual Fourth of July Parade was held in Huntington Beach, a beautiful seashore city in Southern California. Falun Gong practitioners from Los Angeles, San Diego and Las Vegas participated for the first time in this largest Independence Day parade west of the Mississippi River, which featured more than 300 entries including bands, floats, film and television celebrities, local dignitaries, equestrians and community groups. Falun Gong practitioners' waist drum performance, fairy dance, float decorated with a huge lotus flower as well as the exercise demonstration on the float were warmly received by the spectators and also brought the wonderful blessing of Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance to the 300,000 jubilant people along the route.

Falun Gong practitioners' procession Falun Gong practitioners' procession

Many people are busy taking photos of practitioners' procession. In this photo, the photographer is lying down to take the photos

The lady in this photo copies the exercise movement demonstrated by practitioners on the float. She is doing the "single-hand stroking" of the 3rd set Falun Gong exercise, "penetrating the two extremes".

Distributing Falun Gong flyers

Practitioners' performances are warmly received by spectators along the route

The parade proceeded along the Main street and the wide Pacific Coast Highway which is next to the Pacific Ocean. The 4-mile parade lasted more than 3 hours. At around 6 am, spectators started gathering on both sides of the street and waiting to enjoy the parade, which began at 10 am. Before 9 am, the 4-mile long route was crowded with people.

Justin R. Weiler, a member of the parade organizing committee, stated that the annual Huntington Beach Fourth of July Parade is a traditional celebration and this year marked its 100^th anniversary. This parade is the largest Independence Day parade in the western U.S. and is also one of the most famous U.S. Independence Day Parades. About 350 processions consisting of about 20,000 people participated in this parade. It was estimated that between 300,000 and 500,000 people watched the parade along the route, and at least 3 million more watched it on TV.

Falun Gong practitioners' procession, which included a banner team, dance team, waist drum troupe and float was one of the larger processions and was the only procession composed of Chinese people. The gracefully fairy dance performed by female practitioners dressed in colorful Tang Dynasty costumes, the waist drum troupe's bright yellow suits and their orderly movements, the huge lotus flower on the float as well as the large red banners with golden words, "Falun Dafa" and "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance" in English and Chinese were extremely eye-catching under the bright blue sky and beautiful sunshine.

The American people were extremely happy to see Falun Gong practitioners celebrating with them on this holiday. They constantly applauded to show their appreciation of practitioners' performance. Among the spectators, some people loudly shouted, "Falun Dafa"; some waived the U.S. flags and danced to the waist drum beats; and some copied the Falun Gong exercise movements demonstrated by practitioners on the float. Sounds of "Beautiful" and "Pretty" could be constantly heard. One Caucasian lady excitedly shouted in Chinese towards practitioners, "Hello! How are you!"

When practitioners' procession passed through the TV relay station, the female and male masters of ceremony announced to the audience:

"Falun Dafa, also called Falun Gong is a cultivation practice based on Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance which is beneficial to improve both physical and mental health. About 100 million people in about 60 countries in the world are practicing it."

"In Orange County, there are also daily or weekly practice sites or exercise instruction classes, free of charge. All are welcome to join."

"If you would like to learn meditation, it's time now. Look, there they are!"

"If you would like to join the 100 million people, please visit the website: www.falundafa.org".