(Clearwisdom.net)

Ms. Zhang Xiumei suffered for many years from more than ten different diseases. Not long after she started to practice Falun Gong, all of her illnesses disappeared. She personally experienced the greatness and sacredness of Falun Dafa and Teacher. She really could not understand why the government began persecuting Falun Gong, so she went to Beijing alone three times to appeal, with the hope that she could tell her true story to the people in power. She went there with this very simple and compassionate thought; however, what she received was torture. From Ms. Zhang's experience, we can see that the Chinese Communist Party has reached the extreme of evilness. Justice is now demanding that the CCP perish.

Ms. Zhang Xiumei is a 58 year-old Falun Dafa practitioner from Chengguan Town, Zhuolu County, Zhangjiakou City.

Before she became a practitioner, Ms. Zhang had serious arthritis. Due to a fall, the pain in her legs increased significantly, and she could not squat down at all. She had suffered from severe sinus problems for about 18 years. She had stomach illness which made it difficult to eat. She also had illness in her intestines, including tapeworms, disease in her reproductive system, skin disease and so on. The area between her calf and abdomen was often unbearably itchy, and bled from scratching. She also suffered inflammation of the gall bladder, bile duct ache, numb and aching arms, and so on. It can be said that she had chronic pain all over her body.

In early 1997, Zhang Xiumei saw her previous ward mate from the hospital, who lived on the same street as her. This lady had suffered seriously from heart disease, inflammation of the heart muscle, rheumatoid arthritis, and stomach diseases in the past. She had resigned herself to die because of the illnesses. However, it was not very warm outside yet, and she was only wearing a skirt, and her face was flushed. To Zhang Xiumei it was beyond belief. Zhang Xiumei asked her, "Have you recovered through practicing Falun Gong?" She told Zhang Xiumei that after she practiced Falun Gong, she gained huge benefits physically and mentally. She lent Zhang Xiumei the book, Zhuan Falun and asked her to have a good look.

It was not easy for Ms. Zhang to learn. In the beginning, as soon as Zhang Xiumei picked up the book, she became sleepy. She read it once on and off, but did not understand much. She only realized that it teaches people to uplift their moral standards, pay attention to virtue, and strive to be a good person. At that time, she thought, "I still can't stand right now. I will practice after my legs are cured." She went to the hospital three times in a row, and the doctor was not in to see her each time, so after the third time, she went home and decided, "I won't go to see the doctor any more, I will practice Falun Gong!" As soon as this thought came out, unexpectedly on the following day she could stand, and was able to practice the exercises. In three days, Teacher started to clean up her body. She had diarrhea and vomiting, and a big blood clot flowed out from her nose. A few days later, the pain in her legs from which she had suffered for many years, and all the other diseases she suffered from for half of her life, went away. From deep in her heart, she appreciated Falun Dafa and Teacher. She realized from her heart that the only hope and way out for a human being is to cultivate and follow the path of returning to one's true self. Zhuan Falun is a complete teaching which guides people to cultivate towards high levels.

After Jiang's scoundrel regime began to persecute Falun Gong on July 20, 1999, Zhang Xiumei felt very sad. On March 4, 2000, she and more than twenty fellow practitioners got together at their previous practice site to validate Falun Dafa. As a result, they were arrested by authorities from the County Public Security Bureau and the local police station, and taken to the county detention center where they were illegally held for fifteen days. Zhang Xiumei lost 2200 yuan through extortion, including 1700 yuan in cash and 500 yuan from other sources. The people directly responsible for her persecution include Liu Guizhen, the deputy director general of the County Public Security Bureau and Wang Jianming from Chengguan Town Police Station.

On March 27, 2000, Zhang Xiumei went to State Appeals Office in Beijing, planning to tell the government about the benefits she received from practicing Falun Gong. Unexpectedly, the Appeals Office had turned into an arrest office. As soon as the staff knew she was a Falun Gong practitioner, they arrested her without a word. She was taken to the office of Zhangjiakou City in Beijing, who confiscated 250 yuan from her. Afterwards, Zhao Lailiang, the deputy head of Chengguan Town, and Wang Jianming brought her back. The office in Beijing extorted 1500 yuan from her. Zhao Lailiang and some other policemen also charged her for their meals, traveling expenses and gas. Her family was extorted 2000 yuan in total.

On April 25, 2000, Zhang Xiumei again went to Beijing to validate Falun Dafa and speak just words for Teacher and Dafa. However, as soon as she arrived in Beijing, she was arrested by police officers there, and she was again locked up in the office of Zhangjiakou City in Beijing. The policemen there kicked her, even fiercely kicking her face with leather shoes, causing bruises to appear all over her body. Zhao Lailiang and Wang Jianming escorted her back home and extorted 5000 yuan from her family.

By October 2000, Zhang Xiumei had been extorted many times and did not have a single cent left, so she set out for Beijing by bike. At around 3:00 a.m. on the 12th, when she had just arrived on the outskirts of Beijing, she was arrested by plainclothes policemen and taken to their office in Beijing. After she was escorted back, she was directly sent to the county detention center and illegally detained for more than a month. Afterwards, she was sentenced to three years of forced labor, and forcibly sent to Gaoyang Forced Labor Camp in Baoding.

In Gaoyang Forced Labor Camp, Zhang Xiumei had righteous thoughts and actions. She did not cooperate with any requests, orders or instigations from the guards there, and she insisted on rectifying all the rules and regulations in the forced labor camp. As a result, she was tortured and brutally persecuted. She refused to eat their food or wear the prison uniform. She did not answer any questions during the interrogation. She was tortured with an electric baton more than ten times. Her hands were cuffed to a loop fastened to the ground so that she could not sit or stand. She could only squat. She was tortured in this position more than twenty times. She was also forced to stand facing the wall continuously for over two weeks without sleep. As part of the torture, they pulled off her clothes and rolled up her underwear, exposing her to mosquito bites. Her face was whipped repeatedly with the sole of a shoe during sessions lasting thirty minutes each. She was slapped, punched and kicked with shoes. In order to support their aim of brainwashing Ms. Zhang, the evildoers read articles that slander Dafa to her every day. To resist the evil, Zhang Xiumei and other practitioners loudly recited Teacher's articles. The guards actually stuffed their mouths with dirty mud from the sewer. Afterwards, Zhang Xiumei and other practitioners started a hunger strike to resist the evil persecution. After 52 days of hunger strike, Zhang Xiumei had become very skinny and emaciated. Her weight dropped from 65 kg (143 lbs.) to 30 kg (66 lbs.). The forced labor camp feared being held responsible should she die, so they released her on October 26, 2001. This time the evildoers extorted 800 yuan in cash from her family.

At around 10:00 a.m. on October 16, 2002, about five guards from Gaoyang Forced Labor Camp suddenly rushed into Ms. Zhang's home and forcibly took her away. Ms. Zhang's 84-year-old mother-in-law tried to stop the police, but was beaten down on the stone steps of the courtyard. Just like that, a piece of flesh from her face was torn off, blood gushed out, and her arm was broken. They arrested Zhang Xiumei and swaggered off, and even lied to Ms. Zhang, saying that her mother-in-law was all right. Ms. Zhang's mother-in-law was frightened and suffered mental trauma. Her bones were broken and were slow to heal. She had pain for the entire night and could not sleep. She died not long afterwards.

Zhang Xiumei was forcibly taken to Gaoyang Forced Labor Camp. For more than three months, to resist the detention and persecution she refused to eat the food at the labor camp. During this period, she was barbarically force-fed twice a day. A thick rubber tube was forced down through her nose. She was disfigured and suffered extreme pain from the torment. Her life was in danger many times. Eventually, the evildoers feared being held responsible for her death, so they took her home at night and forced her family to pay for all of their fares and meals etc.

On October 1, 2004, Zhang Xiumei arrived at Tiananmen Square by herself. She stood there, raised her hand to the front of her chest and sent forth the righteous thoughts. She was arrested by the armed police at Tiananmen Square. The police dragged her to the police car, kicked her, beat her, and slapped her head and face with large leather shoes. Her face immediately became blue and purple, she felt faint and her head was swollen. She could not stand up. On the same night, she was sent to the Dongcheng Detention Center in Beijing. Ms. Zhang still conducted a hunger strike to resist the evil persecution. On the seventh day, they began to force-feed her. She did not cooperate, so they forcibly pried her mouth open with a toothbrush and comb, and then the police inserted the rubber tube into her nose. After three continuous force-feedings, she had the symptom of kidney failure. Her whole body twitched and her life was in danger. She was later sent to Beijing Police Hospital for emergency treatment. Zhang Xiumei refused to have a transfusion. The persecutors then cuffed both her hands and legs for more than 20 days, causing a permanent disability in her arms. She cannot put her arms up even today. After she was released from the hospital, officials from the Dongcheng Detention Center illegally sentenced her for two and a half years of forced labor, and sent her to the Tuanhe dispatching station in Beijing. Because Zhang Xiumei continued to protest by conducting a hunger strike, the police again cuffed her hands and feet for over two weeks. On February 10, the police sent her, exhausted from the ongoing physical and mental torture, to Tangshan Forced Labor Camp for further persecution. In Tangshan Forced Labor Camp, Zhang Xiumei conducted a hunger strike for five and a half months.

From February 24, 2005, onward, Zhang Xiumei was faced with intensified persecution. In order to validate Falun Dafa and restrain the evil, she began to shout "Falun Dafa is great!" and "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance is good!" She ceaselessly shouted until the 27^th. Her righteous thoughts and actions strongly frightened the evil. They cuffed her onto a wooden chair and tied up her arms and legs tightly for five days. Zhang Xiumei did not stop shouting "Falun Dafa is great!" and "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance is good!" After she was untied, she still kept shouting "Falun Dafa is great!" and "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance is good!" The guards gagged her with socks and dirty clothes, tied her mouth tight with clothes bands, and wrapped her mouth with several rounds of wide sticky tape. Ms. Zhang could not breathe, her chest was expanded, and her face became blue and purple. The guards actually hit her in the mouth with their fists one after another. Zhang Xiumei endured exquisite pain and tears flew down her face. Guards Li Lina, Guo Lichun and Yan took turns hitting her mouth continuously. Zhang Xiumei was aware of flesh being ripped on her cheek, one piece after another, but because her mouth was shut with sticky tape, she could not spit it out, so she had to swallow the flesh with the blood. In the end, the flesh above her gum fell off completely. It was seriously damaged and could not be restored.

No matter whether she was tied or untied, with her mouth covered tight or not, day or night, Zhang Xiumei ceaselessly shouted, "Falun Dafa is great! Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance is good!" She never stopped shouting, although her body was extremely emaciated from the persecution. The evildoers had to untie her and take away the cuffs. Zhang Xiumei's stern righteousness frightened the evil. When the police sent her to Tangshan Kaiping Hospital for emergency rescue, she shouted throughout the forced labor camp during transport. The police covered her head with a quilt, but she still shouted. No matter where she was taken by car, she did not stop shouting. After she arrived at the hospital, she explained the truth and exposed the evil to the doctor. The guards were very shocked and scared. She was found to have many types of highly dangerous illnesses, such as diabetes, kidney failure, serious lack of potassium, heart disease and so on. She also had symptoms of entering into a coma and losing control of her urine and bowels.

On April 9, 2004, the guards ordered her family to pick her up. The police feared her family might not come, so they called her daughter and said, "Your mother is seriously ill, come quickly." Her daughter answered with strong righteous thoughts, "I have no money to go. All our money has been extorted by you." The evildoers then asked her daughter to go to the local police station and get a proof letter. The daughter still refused to go, so the police had to beg her to come immediately and take her mother home.

When the daughter and son-in-law saw their mom, they were frightened by her appearance. Their mom's condition was horrible. Her face was black and dirty, her disheveled hair was stuck together, her face was dripping with bloody water, her clothes were wet with urine, her eyes were shut tightly, and she was unconscious and near death. The daughter and son-in-law were extremely distressed. They had to carry their mother home with tears in their eyes. Ms. Zhang's elderly spouse burst into tears when he saw Zhang Xiumei's near-death condition, and said to her daughter, "This time your mom really can't recover."

However, because of Teacher's mercy and Dafa's supernatural power, Zhang Xiumei was mysteriously brought back to life after the repeated huge tribulations. Zhang Xiumei currently cannot eat normally, and she cannot walk or raise her arms. A deep scar on the back of her neck caused by the tight tying of ropes has formed a thick bloody scab. Her whole body has edema, she looks pale, and she cannot take care of herself. She is now looked after by her spouse and family members.