GAINESVILLE, Fla.—True Chinese culture is a very rare sight. Many don’t realize that today’s prevailing culture in China is engineered by the communist party, which has been attempting to systematically destroy traditional culture for more than 60 years.

On Jan. 29, 2020, business owner Gajendra Hari attended Shen Yun Performing Arts in Gainesville, Florida at the Curtis M. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. He said the experience was “so much more than I expected.”

“It was extremely beautiful,” he continued. “From scene to scene, there were so many scenes that developed the storyline. The past, the future, the present, and there were just so many emotions and all. But I just never have experienced seeing dance so well performed. It was so much color. It was so much emotion.”

“I would just describe it as this amazing performance, just very, very, very, very beautiful,” Hari said. “That’s a big thing. It was aesthetically very, very beautiful. And that the quality of the performance was just expert, very expert. I felt changed by the experience, to be honest. I want to dance.”

“There were sadness, like watching the part where the modern practitioners were being harassed, even injured, abused by the Chinese authorities. For me, that was really sad, ‘cause I know this is true. You have people that are, you know, being with their spirituality, being with their health, being with beauty, and they are being persecuted. That’s very sad,” he said.

But even those sad scenes are eventually filled with hope and compassion as the stories’ characters act out the kind and forgiving ways in which some Chinese citizens are responding to the attacks. Some of Shen Yun’s scenes portray Falun Dafa practitioners, some of the main targets of the persecution. They believe, like ancient Chinese people did, that good is rewarded and evil is punished by heaven. Falun Dafa is an ancient practice of self-refinement that includes energy-strengthening exercises and encouragement to follow moral principles.

“And then there were other scenes... many, many scenes had elements of humor,” Hari said.

“The Miraculous Flute,” and “The Novice Monks” are two narratives in Shen Yun that depict foibles and funny characters drawn from ancient Chinese culture.

“It’s just very entertaining, from start to finish. It was more than entertaining. Emotionally, it was moving, it was very soulful. Like I said, with all the different emotions,” Hari said.

Hari saw the commonalities between Falun Dafa, which he viewed as a religion, and his own background.

“I practice ancient spirituality, so to me, there is...you know, God is God, spirit is spirit, people are people,” he said. “There may be specifics about this specific religion in China that I don’t know about, but I understand the general principles. Just relative to my spiritual heritage.”