(Minghui.org) I have practiced Falun Dafa for more than 20 years. In the beginning of the persecution, fellow practitioners and I went to Beijing to validate Dafa time after time. We were arrested and illegally detained multiple times in detention centers in Beijing. I’d like to share some miraculous experiences that were manifested by practitioners who steadfastly opposed the persecution.
When I was first detained at Pinggu Detention Center, there were more than 20 people in one cell. As soon as Dafa practitioners were admitted, they went on a hunger strike. The guards interrogated us one by one every day. In order not to impact others, none of us gave our names. I clarified the facts to the guards who interrogated me; telling them how I benefited from the practice. One officer said, “Wow, that’s so wonderful! If I wasn’t a police officer, I’d have joined you to practice as well.”
After we had been on a hunger strike for three days, the guards force fed us. A few guards held down my hands, arms, and head. As soon as they put the thick tube through my nose and all the way to stomach, I immediately felt like vomiting and felt suffocated.
I thought of Master’s poem to encourage myself:
“Great enlightened beings fear no hardshipTheir will is cast of diamondLife or death, they have no attachmentForthright and broad-minded on the road of Fa-rectification” (“Righteous Thought, Righteous Action,” Hong Yin II)
After being on the hunger strike, I didn’t feel hungry. I came to truly feel Master’s empowerment and the miraculous nature of Dafa!
In the afternoon on the fourth day of my hunger strike, guards came into our cell and called out a few numbers. At that time, we were all assigned numbers. My number was among the ones called. I didn’t know what was transpiring. I thought we were being taken to a far away place. However, it turned out that they took us to a nearby railway station and told us, “Ok, all of you can go home.” Only then did I realize that a few of us had been released unconditionally.
Since none of us had our I.D. with us, we decided to stay overnight in a public bathroom. A senior practitioner from Tianjin heard that I didn’t plan to go home. She took out 700 yuan, which was all the money she had, and gave it to me. She also said that after she goes home the next day, she will return with her husband and go to Tiananmen Square to validate the Fa again.
A few of us rented a place in Beijing, where we stayed for nearly four months. We went out and handed out truth-clarification materials that were supplied by local practitioners. One day we handed out the materials at an entrance to a big courtyard. Only when we looked up, did we realize that it was the courthouse.
We also made small banners on yellow fabric with red characters sprayed on that read, “Falun Dafa is wonderful!”
We also received practitioners from all over the country and shared experiences with them. At that time, they came group by group from almost all the provinces except Tibet. They spoke with different accents, yet all had the same wish: Speak up for Falun Dafa and let people know that Falun Dafa was wronged. After we finished sharing, they grabbed their small banners and headed towards Tiananmen Square.
A female practitioner and I went to Tiananmen Square to speak out about the injustice for Falun Dafa on January 1, 2001. We were arrested and held at Huairou Detention Center in Beijing, where we went on a hunger strike for 12 days. In between, we were forced-fed three times. The guards put a lot of salt in the corn congee we were fed. Four criminals pressed us down and then force-fed us with it. Afterwards, we were very thirsty and had to drink a lot of water. Even so, our steadfast will remained unchanged.
One day the guards had all of us stand in the courtyard, which was covered in snow. They forced us to take off our shoes and stand in the snow with bare feet. The guards also forced a female practitioner in her 30s to open her collar, so they could stuff a lot of snow into her clothes. As a result, she shivered from the cold, and her face turned pale. When a guard asked me to take off my shoes, I refused. I said, “It’s freezing cold, why don’t you do that?!” He was so upset that he pushed me to the ground. The guards also forced us to bend over and stretch our arms. When I refused, a guard immediately came to beat me.
Later, we went on another hunger strike. Since I didn’t cooperate with them, the guards handcuffed me and pushed me into the courtyard to freeze me. They forced me to take off my coat, only allowing me to wear my shirt and leggings. I was pushed to sit on the snow. In the beginning, I shivered from the cold. But then I thought: “I shouldn’t feel cold, since I have Master protecting me.” And I no longer felt cold. They took me back to the cell 30 minutes later. Because it’s very difficult to use the washroom while handcuffed, I said to some practitioners: “I want to take the handcuffs off.” Then a practitioner came and took the handcuffs off with just a gentle touch.
I went back to Beijing and stayed with fellow practitioners. The police later found out about our rental place. They came and arrested us and then detained us at Chaoyang Detention Center in Beijing. A police officer said proudly, “Chaoyang is the largest detention center in Asia.” I said, “What’s to brag about? All it says is that your crime rate is high.”
In my cell, there was an 18-year-old practitioner who traveled on her bicycle from Shandong Province all the way to Tiananmen Square by herself. She couldn’t remember how many days she had been on the road. At night, she slept in woodpiles and endured a great deal of hardship.
In another cell, there was a female practitioner who they stripped naked and tied to a wooden board, facing up and with her legs wide open. In the freezing cold of winter, the guards opened all the windows in the room to freeze her. They didn’t provide her with any food or drink, nor allow her to use the washroom for seven consecutive days. In the end, they couldn’t do anything but unconditionally release her.
Another practitioner was pushed onto the balcony in bare feet. Then guards ordered inmates to pour cold water over her. She wasn’t sure how much time had elapsed, but the water had turned into ice. Her feet were frozen in the ice. But when she was taken back to her cell, she had rosy cheeks with a glowing face, whereas all four of the inmates who poured water on her became sick.
Word of the two last cases spread widely throughout the detention center. With that, the guards didn’t dare to torture practitioners anymore.