On the evening of February 13th, 2008, the European premiere of the Divine Performing Arts Chinese Spectacular was staged in Duisburg. Many people came in groups to watch the show and gained memorable insights into five thousand years of Chinese civilization. Osman Kulcu was very impressed with the beauty of the performances and the great skill of the dancers. It gave him an opportunity to appreciate Chinese culture.

A month before Shen Yun’s New Year Spectacular in Paris (February 29th, March 1st and 2nd), the largest magazine in France, Femme Actuelle (over 1 million copies per week) devoted a full page and a half to the Shen Yun Spectacular. Emphasising the high artistic quality of the show, the journalist compliments the “astounding” beauty of the choreography, costumes and scenery.

On February 12th, the Falun Gong Association, one of the sponsors of the Shen Yun Spectacular, held a rally in the shopping centre of Duisburg, a city in the west of Germany. On learning that the Chinese Communist Party (the CCP) attempted to stand in the way of the Spectacular being held in Sweden, Karl Eilert who has already retired said with a sigh, “I cannot simply imagine the CCP even wanting to interfere with a cultural performance such as the Shen Yuan Spectacular. We are living in a democratic country, the CCP has gone so far to extend its influence here and this is really very hard to understand".

Mr.Yang Baochun, 40, is from Handan City, Hebei Province. He travelled to Beijing in July 1999 to appeal for justice for Falun Gong. He was arrested, escorted back to his hometown, and taken to a forced labour camp. He subsequently lost his right leg due to torture in the labour camp. He was then taken to the local psychiatric hospital, Ankang Hospital in Handan City, where he is still being held. At the psychiatric hospital, Mr. Yang has been tortured, starved, shocked with electric batons, and beaten. They also broke his cane, making it difficult for him to get around.

The Jiujiang City Fifth People's Hospital in Jiangxi Province, a psychiatric hospital, detains Falun Gong practitioners in order to persecute them. This kind of illegal detention defies conventional wisdom that psychiatric hospitals offer nurturing care. Ms. Jiang Xiaoying, a practitioner, has had her arms and legs tied, and she has been injected with nerve damaging drugs and other unknown drugs. Psychiatric patients have been instigated into attacking and insulting her, and family visits have been denied for several years. Ms. Jiang has protested against her detention on many occasions. Ke (male, first name unknown), an employee from the hospital's security office, threatened her by saying, "We will send you to forced labour if you protest again."

Mr. Lei Zhengxia, is a 62-year-old Falun Dafa practitioner. On January 14th, 2008, he was arrested from his home by police officers. Police interrogated Lei Zhengxia by use of torture every day. Policeman Li Hong personally attacked Lei Zhengxia's stomach, chest and other vital spots of his body until all the internal organs were severely damaged. Lei's stomach had burst from the torture. Police sent him to the hospital on January 27th where emergency surgery was performed. We heard that the medical and operation fees reached nearly 40,000 yuan up to February 2nd. The police didn't want to pay for the medical expenses since that might mean legal responsibility for the interrogation by torture and intentional injury. Lei Zhengxia's younger sister and other family members worry about being able to afford the huge amounts of medical expenses.

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Xu Jiayu was sent to the newly built 13th prison ward in the Heilongjiang Women's Prison on December 27th, 2006. The 13th prison ward was built specifically to hold Falun Gong practitioners. Guard Xu Zhen and a prisoner began brainwashing Ms. Xu Jiayu on December 28th. Ms. Xu talked to them about the truth of the persecution of Falun Gong and they became angry. The guards set up a TV and VCR. They put in a tape slandering Falun Gong. From 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., the guards took turns asking non-stop questions. This created a tremendous mental pressure that lead some to succumb to the authorities demands to renounce their practice of Falun Gong.

Undoubtedly, the Divine Performing Arts has overcome racial and cultural barriers and won over the minds and souls of both Eastern and Western audience members. One may ask, "So many governments and international organizations have dreamed about having an in-depth and meaningful cultural exchange between East and West and have spent huge amounts of money during the past several decades to make it come true. How did the Divine Performing Arts accomplish this in such a short period of time?"

At the moment of my greatest despair, an opportunity came along. I heard that Falun Dafa was able to cure illness, so I decided to give it a try. In the spring of 1998, I began to cultivate Falun Dafa. Zhuan Falun. Falun Dafa brought miracles to my body. In just over 10 days I went from being a medicine basket since childhood to being healthy again. I did the exercises without taking any medicine and all my diseases were cured.

From February 1st to 3rd, 2008, the ninth Falun Dafa Camp for Young Practitioners was held at Chung Gong University in Tainan. Young practitioners from middle schools, high schools, colleges and universities gathered to study the Fa together, practise the exercises and share their experiences in the cultivation process.

The sponsor of the parade was the Vietnamese Heritage and Cultural Foundation of America. Thirty-nine groups, including elected officials of different ethnicities, the mayor, veterans, schools and religious organisations participated in the parade. Two local TV stations broadcast the parade live. It was reported that the parade attracted several hundred thousand spectators.

Diwu Lun was an official from the early Eastern Han Dynasty of ancient China. He lived in what is Shaanxi Province today. He was honest, unpretentious, and generous. No matter where he worked, he was always considerate of the people.