San Francisco Parade Promotes Traditional Culture
SAN FRANSICO—More than 100 people from the West Coast, other parts of the U.S., and around the globe met in fornt of San Francisco's city hall on Oct. 21 to march in a grand parade celebrating the principles of Truth, Compassion, and Tolerance, calling for an end to the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, encouraging the spread of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party and urging people to withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The parade was headed by the "U.S. West Celestial Band," a marching band formed this April by over 200 members, all of whom are Falun Gong practitioners of all walks of life living in the Bay Area. On this occasion ther eprogram included "America the Beautiful" and "Falun Dafa Is Good."
Following on from the Celestial Band, came a performance team with the theme "Five Thousand Years of Chinese History Is a Culture Passed On by Gods." One of the organizers, Ms. Zhang said, "This is one of the messages we want to pass on the most to spectators today. Many Chinese today have forgotten their own traditions. We would like to remind them of the richness of ancient Chinese Culture. This culture could let people feel the existence of Gods."
This team was formed by several sub-teams, the first team was a dancing team demonstrating the "Charming Spirits of the Great Tang Dynasty," followed by the Kung Fu team's stick-juggling and acrobatic play. The floats also showed the Buddhist and Daoist aspect of Chinese culture as well as the legend of "Nu Wa Mends the Sky."
The third team's theme was "Falun Dafa Around the World."
The fourth team focused on the theme of the persecution of Falun Gong by the CCP. On one truck, a team of actors simulated "Chinese Communist Party Harvesting Organs from Living Falun Gong Practitioners."
The next team's theme was "Spreading the Nine Commentaries and promoting withdrawal from the CCP." The marchers carried the sample book of Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party and banners and placards to promote the popular Nine Commentaries. Ms. Zhang pointed out this is another focus of this parade. Because the Nine Commentaries has initiated a new trend, namely that many people now dare to publicly condemn the CCP.
The parade, about half a mile in length, arrived at Portsmouth Square at around 1:30 p.m. in the afternoon. A rally was then held at around 2 o'clock.