New York City’s Union Square came alive with music, dance, and vibrant colors on May 11, as more than a thousand local Falun Gong practitioners gathered to celebrate World Falun Dafa Day.
The day is observed annually on May 13, marking the introduction of the spiritual practice of Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, to the public in China in 1992. The practice quickly became popular with tens of millions of followers before the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) perceived its popularity as a threat to the regime’s rule and launched a brutal persecution of the group in 1999, which has continued to this day.
The festivities began in the morning, with some practitioners arriving to do Falun Gong’s five meditative exercises. In the afternoon, a marching band kicked off the celebration, followed by a dragon and lion dance, a waist-drum performance, several all-female dances, singing, and musical instrument performances.
Zhang Erping, spokesperson for the Falun Dafa Information Center, took part in the celebration at Union Square. He said Falun Gong has spread to 159 countries around the world.
“This practice not only makes people healthy physically and mentally, but most importantly, in today’s chaotic society, many people have found hope, purpose, and meaning of life through Falun Dafa. As a result, it attracts people of all nationalities, ethnicities, and age groups,” Zhang told The Epoch Times.
Xing Kebin, who lives in the Queens borough of New York City, participated in the group exercise. He said he started practicing Falun Gong after suffering from a broken arm in a skiing incident in 2019.
Xing Kebin demonstrates one of Falun Gong's exercise movements at Union Square in New York City on May 11, 2025. Zhao Fenni/The Epoch Times
“I have found the ultimate meaning of life,” Xing told The Epoch Times.
Sand Zhu, who participated in the dragon and lion dance, said he took up the practice with his mom when he was young. Now married, he recalled following Falun Gong’s teachings and becoming a better student.
Sand Zhu and his wife at Union Square in New York City on May 11, 2025. Zhao Fenni/The Epoch Times
“My mind became calmer, and my grades kept improving,” Zhu told the publication.
Falun Gong is an ancient Chinese discipline with moral teachings based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. Before the CCP began to persecute the group, at least 70 million people had taken up the practice in China, according to official estimates at the time.
Millions of Falun Gong practitioners have been detained inside prisons, labor camps, and other facilities, with hundreds of thousands tortured while incarcerated, according to the Falun Dafa Information Center. Many have been persecuted to death, while some were victims of China’s state-sanctioned forced organ harvesting.
A marching band performs during World Falun Dafa Day celebrations at Union Square in New York City on May 11, 2025. Larry Dye/The Epoch Times
Sarah Matheson, a legal aide working in New York, joined the festivities with her 14-year-old daughter. Matheson said she has been practicing Falun Gong for nearly 20 years and that its main text, “Zhuan Falun,” answered many of her questions about life.
Matheson said she appreciated the House’s recent action to address China’s persecution.
“I'd really like to thank all the elected officials who voted for the Falun Gong Protection Act recently to pass the House. So we just hope that the Senate will pass it this year as well. And then we can really help end the persecution in China,” Matheson told NTD, a sister media outlet of The Epoch Times.
Sarah Matheson at Union Square in New York City on May 11, 2025. Zhao Fenni/The Epoch Times
The House on May 5 passed the Falun Gong Protection Act (HR 1540) by voice vote with no objections. The Act includes provisions to sanction individuals implicated in the forced harvesting of the organs of Falun Gong practitioners.
The Senate version of the legislation (S.817) was introduced in March.
Sarah Cook, former China research director at Freedom House and author of the 2017 Freedom House report “The Battle for China’s Spirit,” took to social media platform X on May 6 to say the Senate should take up the legislation quickly.
“Great to see this legislation pass the House, and with bipartisan support,” Cook wrote. “Hope it can get through the Senate quickly and into law, then really have an impact. It includes key provisions on transparency and accountability for horrific abuses that have gone on far too long.”
A separate New York event celebrating World Falun Dafa Day was held on May 9, when thousands of Falun Gong practitioners marched across Manhattan in a parade, which started at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza on 47th Street on the east side of the city, then passed through midtown before ending near the Chinese Consulate on 42nd Street by the Hudson River.
Zhao Fenni and NTD contributed to this report.
A performance commemorating World Falun Dafa Day at Union Square in New York City on May 11, 2025. Larry Dye/The Epoch Times
A performance commemorating World Falun Dafa Day at Union Square in New York City on May 11, 2025. Larry Dye/The Epoch Times
A performance commemorating World Falun Dafa Day at Union Square in New York City on May 11, 2025. Larry Dye/The Epoch Times
A performance commemorating World Falun Dafa Day at Union Square in New York City on May 11, 2025. Larry Dye/The Epoch Times
Frank Fang
journalist
Frank Fang is a Taiwan-based journalist. He covers U.S., China, and Taiwan news. He holds a master's degree in materials science from Tsinghua University in Taiwan.
