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London, UK: Highlights of Falun Gong March (Photos)

Nov. 14, 2011 |   By Dexiang, a Clearwisdom correspondent

(Clearwisdom.net) "I am very surprised to see such a lot of people suddenly appear." A stunned look was on a Chinese lady’s face when she saw the massive Falun Gong march passing through London's Chinatown on Saturday, November 5, 2011.

The march was held one day before the London European Falun Dafa Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference. It was one of a series of events held by Falun Gong practitioners who had come from more than 20 different European countries. The march showed Londoners and visitors the beauty of Falun Dafa and exposed the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s brutality in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. It brought attention from far and wide to the CCP’s persecution, and spread a clear message that 105 million Chinese people had withdrawn from the CCP and its affiliated organizations.

Falun Gong march

The march, headed by the European Divine Land Marching Band, started from outside the Chinese Embassy, passed through the bustling streets of downtown London and Chinatown, and ended near Trafalgar Square. Many passers-by stopped to watch, take photos and ask for information. Especially in Chinatown, many Chinese gathered to watch, holding relevant information in their hands.

"I withdrew from the CCP a long time ago," Mr. Wong said while watching the march in Chinatown. He quit the CCP Youth League about one year ago, with the help of a Falun Gong practitioner, "Because I don't like the Communist Party, and was very dissatisfied with them, I quit. It is better to draw a clear line between them and me."

Mr. Lu, who was brought up in Britain, asked for a variety of information, and would like to know more about why Falun Gong suffered from the CCP's brutal persecution. He said that he was shocked to see the procession, and added: "Falun Gong is just a belief, but is suffering from all sorts of persecution. So I want to know more about Falun Gong."

Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Huang was from Hamburg, Germany, and this was his first time to participate in the march in London, "London is very beautiful. When we passed through Chinatown, Chinese people looked at us with their eyes wide open. It seemed they were very interested in the march. That's what I saw. "

Father and son, Wolfgang and Lucas, from Munich, Germany, are very happy to be in the European Divine Marching Band in London

Among the members of the European Divine Marching Band, there were a father and son, Wolfgang and Lucas, from Munich, Germany. Wolfgang thought that the march was very good, and there were so many people watching with smiles when the march passed through Chinatown. Lucas, the son, agreed strongly with his Dad, "In Chinatown, almost every other person was taking photos with their cell phones or cameras and they looked fascinated."

Practitioners Toshkov and Pleshkov from Bulgaria

Practitioners Toshkov and Pleshkov from Bulgaria were very pleased to be able to participate in the march in London. "We want to help stop the persecution, which is still occurring in China. Many Londoners saw this march, and learned about the CCP’s persecution of Falun Dafa." Toshkov said, "Today's march was marvelous. The European Divine Land Marching Band enthused everyone, and the procession also emitted a very powerful energy. It was really great, and wonderful music resounded through downtown London. "

Pleshkov shared the same view, "I feel exactly the same. I saw a lot of people taking photos and smiling." He has been practicing Falun Gong for about five years, and, especially in the last year and a half, had read more Zhuan Falun and other Dafa books. "

Toshkov stated that letting people in the world understand that Falun Gong is good was crucial. "Falun Dafa allows me to understand everything. I feel that Dafa is very close to my heart, and its principles and practice are all very righteous. Everyone will benefit from that.” What he really wanted to tell the Chinese people was, "I am honored to be able to learn this practice introduced initially in China. It is a gift to the whole world, I thank Falun Gong. I want to stop the persecution, and hope that people in China can have freedom to practice Falun Gong . "

Falun Gong practitioner Bernhard from Munich, Germany

Falun Gong practitioner Bernhard from Munich, Germany, also participated in the march. Ten years ago he visited Beijing to protest the persecution of Falun Gong. He felt that allowing Chinese people in the UK to see so many Western Falun Gong practitioners was very important. He added that the Chinese people were very surprised to see so many Westerners in the procession. The march was a huge success.

“As a Westerner, I naturally thought about supporting our fellow practitioners in China, after I learned that they suffered from the CCP's persecution.” He said: "Ten years ago, I learned that thousands of Falun Gong practitioners in China were illegally detained, and there was almost no response from the West. I decided to go to Beijing to protest the persecution of Falun Gong. We appeared in Beijing to protest peacefully but were illegally detained by police. This shocked the Western media, which covered this incident a lot."

With 10 years of effort by Falun Dafa practitioners, Bernhard had seen great changes to the Chinese people: "At the beginning of the persecution, many Chinese responded to our story very indifferently. They did not want to learn the truth, and tried to avoid us. Now, everyone’s eyes are wide open and most of them are very interested in learning about Falun Gong. "

He added: "Chinese people should not be deceived by the CCP's lies. In fact, Chinese people all know that the CCP never tells the truth, and persecutes a lot of Chinese people. They should not be deceived by the CCP any longer."