By a Falun Gong practitioner in Shuangcheng, Heilongjiang Province, China
【明慧网二零一一年五月二十七日】九八年的时候，我们的炼功点挪到了东门广场里面。
(Clearwisdom.net) In 1998, our group exercise site moved to the East Gate Square. The square is several thousand square meters. At the time, it was the biggest public entertainment place in our small town.
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| 历史图片 ——法轮功学员在广场洪法炼功 Historical photo: Falun Gong practitioners participate in group exercise to spread the practice |
那个广场有几千平方米，当时是我们这座小城中最大的一个公共娱乐场所。
夏天、秋天的晚上，广场里的人最多。因为来广场休闲的人多，自然就吸引了许多小商小贩在广场内外摆各种各样的小摊：卖烧烤、卖水果、卖小吃……前来游玩的人又不怎么讲究卫生，所以，一个晚上下来，广场里面的环境就被弄得很脏、很乱。
Many people came to the square, especially in the evenings during summer and fall, so it attracted many food booths that sold things like barbecue, fruits, and snacks. By late evening, the square would become very dirty.
我们这些修炼法轮功的人都听师父的教诲：在哪里都得做一个好人！所以，每次晨炼前，我们都不怕脏、不怕累，先把整个广场都收拾的干干净净。我记得当时我们有一个大个同修很能干，主动带领大家清扫广场。
我们炼功点还有一个同修，自己出钱买了五、六把大扫帚，每天天不亮，他就从家属院扛着一大堆扫帚来到广场，和大家一起清扫广场。到点炼功的时候，炼功音乐一响，我们就齐刷刷的站好，炼功。每个同修都很自觉，根本不用人去组织。
The Falun Gong practitioners there followed Master Li's teaching to be good people in all circumstances. Before the morning exercises, we always cleaned the whole square. A fellow practitioner who was very tall led us to clean the square. Another practitioner bought several brooms and brought them to the square before dawn every day. We cleaned the square together.
炼完功后，有的同修就直接回家了，有的就拿着炼功用的坐垫到邻近的菜摊上去买菜。要是摊主多找给我们钱了，我们就都给摊主退回去。有的同修买水果时，摊主就多找了三十元，同修都如数退还给摊主。每每此时，摊主们就说：你们这些炼法轮功的人真好，现在这个社会，象你们法轮功这样的人是越来越少了……
Once the exercise music started, we stood in an orderly fashion to do the exercises. Every fellow practitioner was very conscientious.
After the exercises, some practitioners went to buy vegetables in the nearby booths. If the sellers gave them too much change, they would return it. Once a practitioner bought some fruits, and the seller gave him 30 yuan in extra change. The practitioner promptly returned the money. Sellers always said that Falun Gong practitioners were very good.
北方的冬天经常下大雪，下雪的时候，我们就早早的来，自己带着清雪的工具，把广场里面的雪都清理干净，就连六十岁的老太太都跟着干，然后，我们再炼功。
其实，清理广场里的积雪和打扫广场里面的卫生原本是市政清洁工份内的活，我们在炼功之前都替他们做了。等到清洁工来时，他们就站在那里，用敬佩的眼光看着我们晨炼。
When it snowed in the winter, we would come to the square early and clean the snow with our own tools. Even female practitioners in their sixties worked together with us. After we cleared the snow, we would do the exercises.
Snow and trash removal was supposed to be the janitors' job, but we did it for them before they came. When they arrived, they would stand there and watch us to do the exercises.
我们为什么要这样做？就是因为我们学了法轮大法！
大法师父教我们要做好人、做更好的人，这样，我们的道德才能回升、境界才能升华……
Why did we do this? Because we learned Falun Gong! Master taught us to be good people and strive to be even better people. This way, our morality and character would be upgraded.
广场的卫生虽然被来此游玩的人弄得又脏又乱，但因为天天都有我们这群法轮大法弟子的清扫，所以，广场又显得很洁净。原本一个普普通通的广场，因了一群修炼法轮大法的炼功人而成为一块“净土”！
The square was littered with trash by people who came to be entertained there, but with Falun Gong practitioners' efforts, it returned to being very clean. A common square became a pure land of a group of practitioners.
有几次，乡下村镇的同修来和我们一起集体炼功，那场面真是太壮观了：
炼功音乐一响，两千多人都自觉的站好，开始炼功。
周围静静的，耳边响着炼功音乐，祥和慈悲，真是太美妙了！只可惜，当时没能留下照片。
Sometimes, fellow practitioners from nearby villages came to practice together with us, and it looked magnificent. Once the exercise music started, about 2,000 people stood in an orderly fashion and did the exercises together. The environment was serene, and the music resounded in my ears. The energy field was harmonious and compassionate, and we felt great! It's a pity that we did not take a photo then.
看到这么多的人一起炼功，路人都驻足观看。听路人说，有一次我们集体炼功时，来了一个公安，他自言自语道：啊，这么多人，我得看看能不能闹事……看了一会儿，这个公安没趣的走了。
Seeing so many people doing the exercises together, passersby often stopped and watched us. Someone told us that once when we were doing the exercises, a policeman came by and said, "There are so many people gathered here. I should watch them to make sure they don't cause any trouble." After a while, he got bored and walked away.
一九九九年七月二十日之后，由于中共邪党的非法镇压，我们就不能再在广场里炼功了。
同修说，有几次他路过广场，正赶上打扫卫生的清洁工们闲谈，清洁工说：……不让这些人炼功了，再也没有人替我们打扫广场了……
After July 20, 1999, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started to persecute Falun Gong and did not allow us to practice in the square anymore. A fellow practitioner said that he once passed by the square and heard one janitor say to another, "The CCP does not allow people to practice Falun Gong, so nobody will clean the square for us anymore."
同修说，他听后心里面很不是滋味。
近几年，这个广场又被装饰了几次，给人的感觉是越来越现代化了，但我还是怀念以前的那个广场：
怀念那个时候的情景，怀念那块净土上的炼功人……
The square was redecorated several times in recent years, and now it looks modern. But I still miss the square as it was back when practitioners did the exercises there, in a pure land.
From - http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2011/5/27/净土上的炼功人（图）-241541.html (Chinese) http://clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2011/6/4/125807.html (English)
