"Well sung! Once more!", shouted some of the tourists after hearing the song. Some on the verge of tears told the practitioners quietly, “We actually know that the CCP is not good. We do not dare to receive the materials because we do not know about Falun Gong and also because we are afraid that some will inform against us. But we will not be against Falun Gong now”.

On the morning of November 27th, 2007, Falun Dafa practitioner Liu Qingyu was arrested by police from Liujiayao town, and his home was ransacked. When the police ransacked his home, the man in his 70s and his one-year-old grandchild were take out of the home and they were terrified by the police's violence. Liu Qingyu was taken to Anqiu Detention Centre. According to independent verification, on January 3rd, 2008, Liu Qingyu was taken to the No. 2 Labour Camp in Shandong Province. Liu Qingyu suffered a mental collapse after the mistreatment and torture he suffered. One of the tortures included solitary confinement in a "small cell."

My name is Li Linghui. I'm 12 years old and a middle school student. I used to have a happy and peaceful family life. My father and mother persisted in practising Falun Gong after the persecution began, not wanting to give up their faith in Truth-Compassion-Tolerance. Because of this, the police showed up one day and smashed the main house gate, and arrested my father and mother on December 25th, 2007. I saw my father had been pushed down to the ground by two policemen, and both of his hands were tied behind his back. Then, with a loud "bang", the door of my room was smashed and two policemen rushed in. They grabbed my mother by her shoulders and dragged her out of the living room. I witnessed this persecution with my own eyes.

Mr. Wu Shihai used to be a teacher. He has been continually subjected to brutal torture during the past several years for his belief in Falun Dafa. On January 15th, 2003, he was sentenced to two years of forced labour and sent to Xinhua Forced Labour Camp again. There he was again physically abused, forced to stand in a fixed posture for a long time, and forced to repeatedly squat or stand for extremely long periods of time. He refused to be "transformed" and was taken to the No. 3 People's Hospital for the mentally ill in Mianyang City. There, personnel administered nerve-damaging drugs both orally and by injection. Several unidentified drugs were used. Mr. Wu's reactions and movements slowed, his facial muscles became paralysed, and he exhibited signs of reduced mental capacity. He is currently detained at Deyang Prison in Sichuan Province.

On the afternoon of January 30th, 2008, the police arrested 61-year-old Falun Gong practitioner Zhou Jingchun. Mr. Zhou has suffered repeated persecution at the hands of the police because he persists in practising Falun Gong. In September 2004, Mr. Zhou was forcibly arrested by police. They brutally tortured Mr. Zhou and beat him in turn until he fell to the ground and could not stand up.

On February 10th, the Sydney city government held a series of activities to celebrate the Chinese New Year in downtown Sydney. It was the 12th Chinese New Year celebration held by the city government. Local Falun Gong practitioners participated in the New Year parade.

Susanne English from Summerlet, New Jersey brought her three children to attend the Chinese New Year Splendor. After watching the performance, they expressed their displeasure with the New York Times article.