(Minghui.org) The Stockholm Cultural Festival in Sweden concluded on August 20, 2017. The festival featured a book fair titled, “The World's Longest Desk,” sponsored by the Stockholm City Library. The event was held on the busiest pedestrian street in downtown Stockholm. Falun Gong practitioners from Sweden participated in the event, featuring the Swedish version of the book Falun Gong.
The Best Place to Present the Best Book
The entire book fair spanned an area over one kilometer in length. The event organizers specifically arranged a very good location for the Falun Gong booth (also known as Falun Dafa), which was close to the downtown subway station exit, and the entrance to Sweden's largest department store, where the flow of people is virtually the greatest of any spot in the city center area.
How had such a good location been obtained? Originally, when a Falun Gong practitioner applied to participate in the book fair event, he introduced the book Falun Gong to the event organizers and the head of the Stockholm City Library. He covered what kind of book Falun Gong is, why it can attract people worldwide of different languages and culture backgrounds, what kind of practice Falun Gong is, and how can it bring people physical and mental well-being. The head of the library soon understood that it is a rare book, and offered to give the best place at the book fair to Falun Gong practitioners.
The Falun Gong booth was neatly displayed with the Swedish version of Falun Gong, along with information sheets and desktop posters introducing the practice. Practitioners standing at the booth told the visitors about the goodness of Falun Gong, while some practitioners demonstrated the exercises. The quiet and peaceful scene in the noisy downtown surroundings attracted many visitors, who stopped and watched. Some people wanted to learn the Falun Gong exercises on the spot, and some people bought a copy of Falun Gong right away.
Event organizers allocated the best location at the book fair to Falun Gong practitioners after they understood that Falun Gong is a rare book.
People of Different Nationalities Like Falun Gong
Among the visitors who stopped to talk with Falun Gong practitioners in the bustling crowd, were many Swedes and other ethnic people. Most Swedes had heard of Falun Gong, and many wanted to learn more about the practice. Some of other ethnic groups had some understanding of Falun Gong, and had even viewed Falun Gong books online and self-studied the Falun Gong exercises.
One Iranian woman, who worked in the IT sector, had already done online self-study of the Falun Gong exercises. At the book fair, she met Falun Gong practitioners in person for the first time. She immediately asked a practitioner to teach her the exercises once again, and then talked with the practitioner for a long time.
An Afghan-born surgeon who had lived in Hong Kong and seen Falun Gong there, but had not learned the details of the practice. He chatted with a practitioner during the fair for 30 minutes, and was happy to understand what Falun Gong is really about.
There was also a Turkish television reporter who made a special trip to Stockholm to cover the book fair. He was very happy to talk to Falun Gong practitioners, and he shot five or six minutes of video around the practitioners' booth. The program on Stockholm book fair he made will be broadcast to the entire country of Turkey.
A 13-year-old Egyptian boy came to watch the practitioners demonstrate the exercises, but had no idea what was going on. A practitioner explained to him the benefits of Falun Gong exercises on people's health. He felt good and wanted to learn, and asked if the practitioners could introduce the practice to his classmates. The practitioner gave him a business card and told him that his teacher or principal could contact Falun Gong practitioners to arrange for the practitioners to go to his school to teach the exercises. The teenager happily left with the Falun Gong information flyer and the student's business card.
Of the Chinese people who passed by the practitioners’ booth, many were surprised to see Falun Gong there. Some took the truth clarification materials, and took photos using their mobile phones. Some talked with the practitioners, and came to realize that what they had heard back in China was reversed facts about Falun Gong.
The “World's Longest Desk” book fair in Sweden has a history of twenty-seven years. Falun Gong practitioners participated in this year's book fair for the first time, and received very good results. At the end of the day's activities, the information sheets that people used to sign up for regular free exercise instruction classes were gone. Many people were interested in Falun Gong, and wanted to personally experience this magical practice.
A woman learns the Falun Gong exercises at the book fair.
In order to thank the event organizers for their help and support, Falun Gong practitioners decided to donate a few Swedish versions of Falun Gong to the Stockholm City Library, so that more predestined people could learn about the goodness of the practice.
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