(Clearwisdom.net) My name is Wang Zhongyan. I live in Xingcheng City, Liaoning Province. Right before I started cultivation, my life was so miserable due to illness that I felt I would rather die than live.

In December 1986, after my son was born, I developed rheumatism. At first, I felt sore and weak in my left knee. Gradually, I felt the same in my right knee joint. One month later, I had pain that jumped up and down all the joints of my body. I felt worse on cloudy and rainy days. My hands could not touch cold water at all. I wore heavy clothes even in the heat of summer. The heavy clothes looked like a shield that covered me seamlessly. Even when I was covered like this, I still felt very chilly.

One winter, I was sitting close to an electric radiator to warm myself at work. At that time, although I was wearing two pairs of cotton-padded trousers, I still felt cold. My trousers caught fire, but I wasn't aware of it at all. My health condition worsened in 1994. All the joints on my fingers became severely deformed. I looked like a disabled person and became known as a sick person in my work unit. Seeing doctors everywhere was the major thing in my life. As long as I was told that this doctor could cure my illness, I absolutely would not give up the chance to see him no matter how far away or how much money it cost. As a result, I suffered a lot while spending a lot of money. However, my health condition did not change much. One of the less scrupulous doctors, in order to make money, injected my body with hormones. These hormones could stop the pain as soon as they were injected, but the pain would start up again if the injections were stopped. Later, this treatment caused the growth of lots of fine hair on my body, but the doctor had disappeared. Later, another doctor prescribed his ancestor's secret prescription, asking me to drink wine with the medicine before having meals. Consequently, the wine burned my stomach. Several months after, my capability to take wine increased a lot, but my illness remained the same. Originally, I had rheumatism, heart disease, and pulmonary tuberculosis. Now I developed stomach and liver illnesses as a result of drinking too much wine. It was just like the frost on snow. My mood declined to its lowest point. Sometimes, I truly wanted to end my young life so as to eliminate my suffering. However, I gave up such thoughts whenever I looked at my baby son. I tried hard to sustain my life in bitterness.

In June 1994, I heard that Falun Gong could cure illnesses, so I went looking for it. When I saw the book China Falun Gong, I felt a rapid spinning in my head. After I got home, I saw images of Teacher in his exercise suit, sitting on a lotus flower and making hand signs everywhere in my house.

When I knew that Teacher would give lectures in Dalian City, I felt an unknown compulsion in my heart and had the desire to attend. There were more than ten people from my home district who went to Dalian to attend the Teacher's lectures on June 30, 1994. I was late and missed the train they were all taking. My husband said, "It is just a Qigong class. Why can't you go later? Why must you go this time?" But I insisted on going. Therefore, my husband bought me a train ticket and asked a soldier who was going back to Dalian to look after me.

July 1, 1994 was a day that I can never forget. I saw in person the great and benevolent Teacher and listened to Teacher lecturing on the Fa.

On the first day of Teacher's lectures, I began to sleep at the lecture. I woke up after Teacher finished. When I got back to the place where I was staying, I saw other practitioners who were vomiting or had diarrhea. But I was fine. After the lecture the next day, I felt my abdomen swelling but did not pay attention to it. On the third day, I began to vomit blood and felt a bit afraid. The veteran practitioners told me, "Don't be afraid. It is the Teacher purifying your body. You will get rid of it soon." Since then, my life of being sick all the time was over. I felt first how light my body was when it was free from illness. And my life was full of energy.

The benevolent Teacher reduced the lectures to 7 days in order reduce interference with practitioners' work and to consider those who came from far away with financial difficulty. After the lecture on the last day, I went to look for the little fellow practitioner who came with us and who was at the front. I saw the Teacher in front of me, tall and strong, with both hands overlapping at the abdomen. The Teacher was wearing a worn but clean white shirt, blue trousers, and a pair of common leather shoes. The Teacher looked so simple and natural but also so solemn, benevolent and kind. At this time, all the practitioners around the Teacher pressed their hands together in front of their chests to show their solemn respect. However, I did not know anything. The Teacher's skin was very exquisite. I touched the Teacher's right arm, just like a naughty and immature child. The Teacher lowered his head a bit, looking at me with a benevolent smile. That smile felt so familiar to me.

During the lectures, the Teacher asked every one of us to write an experience report. The Teacher said, "I will read each report earnestly." Because of my poor enlightenment quality, I did not write anything, which has become a greatest regret in my life.

On December 30, 1994, the Teacher flew to Dalian from Guangzhou to give the last open lecture on the Fa in China. This was only half a day. This was also my second time seeing the Teacher and listening to him lecture on the Fa. The venue was the stadium in Dalian City. It could hold 6,000 people. My feelings seeing the Teacher for the second time were different from the first time, which could not be expressed by words.

My seat was in the last row. So I could only see the Teacher's back. In order to see the Teacher's face, I went to the front to sit in the aisle. Looking at the Teacher, tears fell non-stop. When the Teacher was purifying the practitioner's bodies, I could hear things falling off the practitioner who came with us. (Later I found out that this practitioner had a spirit attached to him.) After finishing the lecture, the Teacher went around the hall and I knew that he would leave us. I knew it would be difficult to see the Teacher again, so I ran outside, chasing after him. When I got there, I saw the car that the Teacher was in driving away. I shouted, "Teacher!" Since then, I made up my mind in my heart that I would follow the Teacher forever.

On April 1999, out of our trust in the government, we went to Beijing to clarify the truth about Falun Dafa to the government as soon as we found out that Falun Dafa practitioners in Tianjin were arrested without reason. Falun Dafa practitioners from various places who got the news came to Beijing . More and more people gathered there. This is the "4.25" Falun Gong peaceful appeal that shocked the world.

The incident was properly resolved because of the Premier's wise response and Falun Dafa practitioners' peace and tolerance. We therefore went back home. However, I did not expect that the local police would come to my work place. They asked me, "Who organized it? Who asked you to go? " I told them, "No one organized it. There wasn't a leader. We volunteered to go. We all are Falun Dafa practitioners and arresting him is the same as arresting me, so I went." As a result of what I said, they perceived me to be an important person in our area. The policemen frequently came to my work place to harass me after that.

There were police assigned to my work unit on May 25, 1999. A policy was made that employees could choose to be paid a lump sum of money for discontinuing their employment or they could choose to take a long holiday. In order to be rid of the policemen's unreasonable harassment, I reluctantly left this job. At the time, all my female co-workers cried since they knew that I was a good and healthy person, and that I was saved from the bitterness of various diseases by practicing Falun Dafa.

Jiang Zemin used the whole state apparatus to suppress common people who believe in "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance". I decided to go to Beijing to safeguard the Fa. At that time, the police department set up check points at both railway stations and the bus station. In order to avoid these check points, I took a taxi to Suizhong and then transferred to Shanhaiguan. I took the train in Shanhaiguan to Beijing. At the check out place of railway station, more than ten Faun Dafa practitioners, myself among them, were stopped for no reason. Two policemen confiscated our tickets. Another practitioner and I left with righteous thoughts while the policemen took the rest to the police station in front of the railway station.

We took a taxi and were stopped by the policemen when we got to Qinhuangdao Railway Station. Two policemen asked us for our ID cards. We said we did not have them on us. Then the policemen began to search our bags. My fellow practitioner said righteously and sternly, "Don't touch my Falun Dafa books." The policemen really listened to her. But they searched my bag and got my cell phone and some pieces of paper containing details about the Fa conference. The two policemen thought that they had gotten a hold of the "biggest leaders" of Falun Gong (Note: There is no organizational structure in Falun Dafa cultivation. Nor is there the so-called relationship between supervisors and subordinates. All practitioners are equal.) They called the Police Department in Qinhuangdao. The deputy director came. I began to tell the deputy director how Falun Dafa saved me from bitterness that resulted from my various diseases. In the end, I cried while telling my story. The deputy director also cried and said, "I know you are good people. My friend's wife also practices Falun Gong. There is no use to appeal. Please go home." He gave us a ride personally to the railway station and told the policemen at the station, "These are my friends." Thus, we arrived in Beijing smoothly.

On October 25, several practitioners, including myself, broke through the blockade and went to Beijing by bicycle. We left at 7:00 pm and arrived at Shanhaiguan the next morning. It was raining when we got to Shanhaiguan and we were soaked. Sleepiness and exhaustion began to set in. We rode more than three hundred Li on one night. My feet were covered with blood blisters; my knees hurt terribly and the top of my inner thighs were bleeding because of too much friction. I was not afraid of anything as long as it could clear up the defamation to Falun Dafa and the Teacher and restore the reputation to our Teacher. Because of the severe injury, I had to separate from my fellow practitioners at Yejituo Town in Hebei Province. I took the bus to Fengrun County first and then took the train from there to Beijing. At that time, surveillance in Fengrun County was tight.

When I found out that it was only 150 kilometers between Fengrun and Beijing, I made up my mind to go with other practitioners if I met them; otherwise, I'd go by myself. I would go to Beijing even if I had to crawl there. I bought a pair of cloth shoes and started walking towards Beijing along National Highway 102. It was getting dark, and fewer and fewer residential houses were along the highway, but I wasn't scared nor did I feel lonely. During this time, a motorcycle came up from behind; he circled around me once and left. After a short while, he came back and circled around me again and left. A voice in my head said, "Walk along the left side of the road." I immediately went to the left side of the road and stood beside a car parked there. Shortly, the cyclist reappeared and seemed to be looking for me. This thought came to me: Don't let him see me. The cyclist searched for ten minutes in vain, then left. I was actually standing right across the road from him. After he left, I resumed limping along the road. By the time I couldn't walk any further, I saw a small broken down old house, surrounded by tall grass and weeds besides a gas station. I lay down on the side of the road and covered myself with dry weeds. I said in my heart: "Teacher, please wake me up when practitioners arrive." I fell asleep in exhaustion. I don't know how long I had been sleeping when a gust of wind woke me up and I saw two practitioners riding up on their bicycles. I shouted their names. The moment of reuniting with fellow practitioners was so exciting and joyful. Our wish had finally come true when we arrived in Beijing to validate Dafa.

On November 3, 1999, I returned from Beijing, but I couldn't return to my own home. The local police had gone to Beijing looking for me and failed to find me. The director who was responsible for finding me was therefore demoted and sent elsewhere. I then left my home to avoid being arrested. I went to stay with a relative who had a son also practicing Falun Dafa. I told him about the situation in Beijing. The son and other local practitioners then left for Beijing the following day to validate Dafa. My relatives scolded me for what I did and I was forced to leave their home. With only a small bag on my back, I felt extremely sad. Such an immense world, yet, I couldn't find a place to stay. With my injured legs, I went around looking for another relative to stay with. They accepted me but would not allow me to call home.

As I had been away from my home for almost two months, I couldn't help calling home using a public phone. My son cried on the other end, and I myself couldn't help crying. My son asked me, "Mom, do you have any money?" When my son had heard my legs were injured, he couldn't help crying and said to me, "Mom, be careful, don't let them capture you! I will take good care of myself and don't worry about me." He matured so early when he should be enjoying the love of his mother. Simply because I practice Dafa and want to be a good person, everything was taken away from him. My heart broke at that moment.

When the Chinese New Year in 2000 approached and my legs had recovered, I returned to my hometown and stayed with a relative. After only two days, my husband came in a hurry and told me, "Leave right now. Police from Ningyuan Police Station have heard of your return home. Wang Huari (Director of Ningyuan Police Station) brought several policemen to our house looking for you and turned everything upside down." Looking at my beloved son and husband, I felt as if a knife were stabbing my heart.

On July 17, 2000, a staff member from the Ningyuan General Management Office found me and told me, "We are from the Women's Federation. We came for your own good. You are only thirty and have done a good job in your unit. You were the director of the retail sales department and earned a good salary. So don't be stubborn. You only have to say you will stop practicing Falun Gong; we will represent you. You'll have your job back and still be the director of the department. And you don't have to pay for the job seniority." I flatly refused and told them, "I can't lie and betray my own conscience." I told them how I had regained my health, how much I had saved in medical expenses for our country, and how my behavior towards my in-laws had changed after practicing Dafa. They said to me, "You are too stubborn."

On July 20, 2000, a large-scale arrest was launched and my name was on their list. I began my homeless wandering again.

In 2001, practitioners from Xingcheng started to use speakers to clarify the truth to people. The righteous voices were heard in Huludao Forced Labor Camp, City Hall and the Detention Center in Xingcheng, Jiangchang, and Suizhong. People could hear the truth directly. This shocked the evil people in Huludao and the whole province. On the night of November 16, while practitioners were setting up the speakers, police arrested me in our truth-clarifying materials production site where we stored a copier, a computer image-maker and some tools for making speakers. I was taken to the Xingcheng Detention Center at one in the morning. Police were happy to see me arrested, "We have finally captured you. It hasn't been easy." Police officer Zhang Jiechen hit me on the right side of my chest where I had once contracted tuberculosis and Wang Huari kicked me. Zhang Guoren stopped them from committing further abuses.

I refused to recite the jail's rules while in the detention center. One police officer angrily asked me, "Why do Falun Gong practitioners refuse to recite the jail's rules?" I told her, "We are all good people and we didn't commit any crime. Why should we recite the rules? We should be set free unconditionally." A guard said, "You should be shot!" Being poisoned by the media, women prisoners were afraid of us and wouldn't dare to say anything to us. I tried talking to them and told them what had happened to me before and after my Dafa cultivation. I clarified the truth to them to make them understand the truth about Dafa, the vicious nature of Jiang Zemin, and the natural law of good and evil. Finally, prisoners said to me that I was a good person. Some said they would practice Falun Gong when they got out.

When I was brought to court, police told me to get a lawyer. I told them I wouldn't need one. No one would sentence me. With just one thought in my mind, "It doesn't matter who says what. I only listen to my Teacher. What Teacher says is what counts." Soon after my lung appeared to show signs of having tuberculosis. I was released unconditionally after being in jail for a total of twenty-eight days. I walked out of the detention center with my head held high.

On October 4, 2002, while the Sixteenth People's Congress Meeting was in progress, I went to Beijing to validate Dafa again. About 10 in the morning, I sent righteous thoughts near Tiananmen Square, and then I went to the west side of the Square, held up a banner and shouted, "Falun Dafa is good!" (Although I had been to Beijing several times before, this wish had never been fulfilled for various reasons.) At that moment, I was fearless with only Dafa in my mind. I felt full of power in safeguarding Dafa.

The police didn't realize that it was me who shouted. However, an elderly couple reported me to the police later and I was arrested. The police said to me viciously, "How dare you come on this occasion (referring to the Sixteenth People's Congress Assembly Meeting), I will put all kinds of pressure on your local government." I shouted immediately, "Falun Dafa is good. Falun Dafa is the righteous Fa!" Police hurriedly pushed me into a waiting police car, and took me to the police sub-bureau. I wouldn't cooperate with them at all, but kept on telling them the facts about Dafa. They locked me in a temporary jail cell.

The police interrogated a Dafa practitioner early next morning; she limped back with tear marks on her face. I demanded loudly: "Why did you beat her?" The police answered: "We didn't, ask her if you don't believe me." However, this practitioner remained silent. Then, the police growled at me: "You come out!" I held on to the iron bar and refused. Two police officers came in and yanked me out forcefully. They asked me: "What's your name and where are you from?" I told them solemnly: "You tortured me, let me sleep on the cement floor and have starved me since yesterday, now I feel sick." The police retorted: "You didn't cultivate well, you have fear; you dare not tell us your name." I said: "If I had fear, I wouldn't be here. I was the one who shouted, 'Falun Dafa is good.' You could shoot me now, and if I blinked my eyes, I wouldn't say that I am a Dafa practitioner. Dafa gave me my life back. As to why I won't tell you my name, it's because you would bring trouble to my family and put pressure on the local government. In order to protect them, I will not tell you my name." A police officer said, "You have to listen to me in here. I will put you in jail for half a year and I don't believe that your family wouldn't come to get you." I answered: "In this world, I only listen to my Teacher. I would go home with dignity today." The officer stared at me and angrily said, "Take her back to her cell." Afterwards, I discussed with the other practitioner and decided: "We shouldn't just passively put up with all this persecution. I will lie down soon and then you can scream for help." I lay down in the chair and said in my heart: "Teacher, please help me to walk out of here with dignity. I shouldn't be here, there were so many things waiting for me to accomplish!" After a while, my whole body trembled, the practitioner screamed loudly: "Come help! Come help!" The prisoner in the next cell also called out: "Come help! Someone is dying!" The police called a doctor quickly and sent me in a police vehicle to the Beijing Security Hospital. Even in the hospital, they tried to get the nurse to trick me into telling her my name and hometown. The nurse pretended to be nice to me: "What's your name? I won' t tell the police." I told her that my name was Dafa practitioner. She gave up and left and then came back later with a piece of paper with "nameless patient" on it and told me that the paper was for taking an X-ray. I was diagnosed with tuberculosis. Upon hearing this, all the police officers stayed far away from me. They took me back to the sub-bureau. At 11 pm, they released me. With Teacher's compassionate guidance, I came out of the evil's den with righteous thoughts again and went back to my hometown.

The past ten years of my cultivation has been torturous; yet, with Teacher's benevolent assistance, I went past one tribulation after another. Although sometimes I didn't do well; nonetheless, I didn't bring disgrace to Teacher and Dafa. As a practitioner, I will walk well on the cultivation path of validating Dafa and accomplish my historical mission and fulfill my pre-historical oath.

(P.S.: The author of this article experienced all kinds of interference. She would have headaches, nausea or even vomiting each time she started to write. All symptoms would disappear if she quit writing. Sometimes, the evil even reflected these words into her mind: "Don't write, there is nothing to write about. Isn't it the most ordinary stuff?" This practitioner finally overcame these obstacles and finished writing this article. We suggest that all practitioners write out their cultivation experiences in validating Dafa and telling people the facts of Dafa and the persecution.)