From Being a Millionaire to Becoming Homeless and Destitute, But Remaining Steadfast in Dafa

On the morning of September 23rd, 2007, the police arrested a Falun Gong practitioner couple, Mr. Long Guande and Ms. Zhan Xuemei. Officers from the Zhanjiang City Police Department, the Dongcheng Police Department in Dongguan, and the Guangdong Provincial Public Security Police Department jointly conducted the arrests. At the same time, the police searched and ransacked the couple's home. Presently, the practitioners' whereabouts are unknown.

Mr. Long Guande is well-known in Zhuhai City and owns a residential renovation business. In the past, he had accumulated quite a bit of wealth as a result of his hard work. However, his physical health was deteriorating. He had various illnesses, and he almost died from bronchitis. He always had to take medicine with him wherever he went.

In the spring of 1995, Mr. Long became a Falun Gong practitioner. During the first week of his cultivation, he went through a three-day test of life and death. From then on, all his illnesses disappeared, and he also had changed as a person. Not only did he have good health, but he had also changed into a person with high moral standards. He followed "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" and strictly disciplined himself. He was very considerate of others and also eliminated his previous bad habits when doing business with others. He became rational and understanding, and was also able to persuade his wife to start cultivating.

Since Jiang Zemin's [former leader of China and instigator of the persecution] regime started the persecution of Falun Gong on July 20th, 1999, Mr. Long and Ms. Zhan Xuemei have been repeatedly arrested and taken to the local brainwashing centre. They were also threatened and harassed frequently. They stayed firm in their belief and continued to speak out for justice for Falun Gong. Officials from the police department once issued a reward of 50,000 yuan¹ for Mr. Long's arrest and used all kinds of means to try to arrest him. His residence in Zhuhai City was searched and ransacked numerous times, and his relatives were questioned and monitored as well. Furthermore, his relatives' residences were even searched, and the water and power supplies were cut off. His elderly parents and young children were also affected. The police tried everything so that there was no place left for them to hide.

For seven years, Mr. Long could not go home and was homeless and destitute. During this time, he successfully avoided arrest many times.

In August 2001, he escaped from the police. Ms. Zhan Xuemei's brother's phone was tapped. She and her brother communicated on the phone and arranged for him to go to the checkpoint at Shangchong (at the border of Zhuhai; Chinese people need a special permit to enter Zhuhai) to pick up Mr. Long's family. Mr. Long's nephew happened to be in Zhuhai for business that day, so Mr. Long and his family rode in the nephew's car. But the police were already there waiting for them. They had followed Ms. Zhan's brother's car. Mr. Long and Ms. Zhan were arrested. Their two little children were horrified at what they had to witness, and to this day, they still run away whenever they see police cars. The nephew's car was confiscated, and Ms. Zhan's brother's bank balance, in the amount of over 30,000 yuan, was seized, as well as more than 10,000 yuan in cash and his mobile phone.

The day after their arrest, Mr. Long was transferred by armed policemen to the No.1 Detention Centre in Zhuhai City. Chief Song had known Mr. Long before he started practising Falun Gong. He knew very well what kind of person Mr. Long was. On their way to the detention centre, Mr. Long asked to stop by his brother-in-law's house to take care of some business. At first, Song did not dare to stop because Mr. Long was regarded as an important criminal, and whoever caught him would be rewarded 50,000 yuan and be promoted as well. Likewise, whoever let Mr. Long escape would be punished and lose his title. After consulting with his supervisor, Song allowed Mr. Long to stop by his brother's home, where Mr. Long's relatives and Song started to quarrel. They asked Song to release Mr. Long. The other police officers watched them intently. Taking this opportunity, Mr. Long escaped from his brother's home. For a long time, the policemen did not even notice. Afterwards, they sent out over 100 officers and search dogs to look for him, but it was too late. After that, Mr. Long's relatives went to the police department to get their cars and other personal property back, but the officers refused to return anything. On the contrary, they demanded that his relatives turn Mr. Long in.

The CCP's financial persecution of Mr. Long and Ms. Zhan was also severe. Their bank account was mysteriously closed, and their bank savings and cars were all confiscated. In addition, a contractor who owed Mr. Long several million yuan and whom Mr. Long had treated very nicely before, denied owing a debt. This person later met with some bad returns.

When Mr. Long and Ms. Zhan were destitute and homeless, their life changed dramatically. They had owned property worth millions of yuan, but suddenly they became paupers and owned nothing. Even so, they never doubted and remained firm in their belief in Falun Gong.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has never stopped looking for them. On the morning of September 23rd, the CCP sent officers from three police departments to arrest Mr. Long and Ms. Zhan and to ransack their home. Currently, their whereabouts are unknown.

Note

1. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2007/10/14/164476.html