London Celebrates World Falun Dafa Day

A colourful sight unfolded in London’s Leicester Square on May 13, as Falun Dafa practitioners celebrated a meditation practice handed down from ancient China. Wearing yellow costumes that glimmered in the sunshine, practitioners performed the slow-moving exercises of the practice in the bustling central London square. The event was held to mark Falun Dafa Day, celebrated internationally on May 13. Falun Dafa, or Falun Gong, is an ancient Chinese spiritual discipline whose adherents follow moral principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. It is practised by millions across the world, but Falun Dafa’s founder, Mr. Li Hongzhi, first publicly taught it on May 13, 1992. May 13 is also Mr. Li’s birthday. The event in London included a Chinese dragon that swooped joyfully to the beat of a drum, led by dancers clad in blue and red. Curious onlookers stopped by, mesmerised by the dragon’s movement and colour. Some walked to a table to have their name written in Chinese calligraphy, while others read about the crackdown of the peaceful practice by the Chinese regime. Among those gathered at Leicester Square were practitioners from China, now grateful for the freedom of belief they enjoy in the UK.