(Minghui.org) Just five days after I started watching the video teachings by Master Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Dafa, back in 1998, my arthritis disappeared. Finally pain-free after years of suffering, I was full of gratitude to Falun Dafa and have never wavered in my faith in this life-transforming practice.

The Chinese Communist Party launched its attack on Falun Dafa about a year later. I knew that I must not remain silent and eventually decided to go to the capital to appeal for the right to practice. I encountered some danger on my way to Beijing in late 2000, but thanks to Master Li's protection, I made it safe and sound.

Looking back at those early days of my cultivation, I knew it was Master Li and Falun Dafa that had made everything possible – from the miraculous disappearance of my arthritis to the seemingly impossible feat of getting to and from Beijing despite the heavy police presence.

Joint Pain Vanished in Five Days

I didn't understand what cultivation was prior to practicing Falun Dafa. I thought that it was just superstition. However, I have remained firm in practicing Dafa.

April 8, 1998, was so special for me. I went to Jilin University with a former classmate to watch the video teachings. I was surprised to learn that practicing Dafa can help practitioners remove their notions, attachments, and karma, and return to their true selves. I also realized that the Earth is just a tiny speck in the gigantic cosmos. I was absorbed in the lectures and continued to attend in the days that followed.

Over the next several days, all my joints started to hurt, from the vertebra in my neck all the way down my back, to the joints in my hands and knees. However, all the pain vanished on the sixth day of watching the video. I understood that my Master had purified my body for me.

Additionally I got over my other health problems, including issues with my heart and liver, low blood pressure, and a low red blood cell count (anemia). I haven't taken any medication for the past 16 years. It was very easy for me to walk up to the seventh floor, and it seemed that the wind was always at my back when I was riding a bicycle.

Having benefited so much, it just seemed natural for me to share my positive experience with others. After the Chinese regime began to persecute Dafa in 1999, I decided that I had to speak up for this wonderful practice.

My trip to Beijing to appeal for Dafa in 2000 was quite eventful, but thanks to Master's protection, everything turned out just fine.

Students Come Out of Nowhere to Shield Me from Police

Dozens of local practitioners and I decided to go to Beijing at the end of 2000 to appeal for our right to practice Falun Dafa. There was extra security at the Beijing Station to prevent Falun Dafa practitioners from going to the capital, so we got off at the Tianjin Station, about 90 miles away.

Some of us got into two vans, but we had to flee when the police officer who checked our IDs got suspicious – we were all from Changchun, the birthplace of the founder of Falun Dafa.

It was very quiet outside the station. I hoped that more people would show up so we would be less readily identified. All of a sudden, a dozen high school students showed up and started playing nearby. I quickly moved towards them. I heard a voice say, “Leave! Hurry up!” I walked to the taxi stand on the other side of the street.

Falun Emblems Identify the Right Taxi

I opened the door of the nearest taxi and asked the driver, “Would you take me to Beijing?” He looked at me and said, “Just stay in the car and we'll leave soon.” He got out and made several phone calls, glancing at me as he did. I left the taxi as soon as I realized the danger.

I wasn't sure which taxi to take next. Suddenly I saw four Falun emblems, each about five centimeters in diameter, on the door of a taxi in the middle of the line. "Oh, that's it!" I thought. I quickly got in and said to the driver, “Please go to Beijing. And hurry!” Without any hesitation, he took off.

Once we were sure that there were no police vehicles behind us, he said to me with a smile, “I believe that you are a Falun Dafa practitioner because of your simple attire.”

I nodded and told him why I had decided to go to Beijing, what Falun Dafa is, and why some practitioners went to Beijing on April 25, 1999, to speak with the Prime Minister. I also told him that the Communist regime had started to persecute Dafa on July 20, 1999, and was filling the media with slander to mislead people.

After I answered his questions, he said, “In fact, I am supportive of Falun Dafa. The Chinese Communist Party has gone too far.

“No outside taxis can get into Beijing. You might try to get in by a local train.”

At the train station, he saw a senior citizen and a police officer in the waiting room, so he suggested that it would be safer if I went instead by long-distance bus.

He bought a ticket for me at the long-distance bus station and said, “The bus will arrive shortly. It will take you directly to Beijing. Please try to stay with the crowd to avoid danger.”

I paid, thanked him, and got out. I no longer saw any Falun emblems on the door of the taxi and realized that Master had been looking after me, arranging to have the taxi driver help me get to Beijing.

I hopped on the bus when it arrived and got to my destination – Tiananmen Square – without incident. My wish to appeal for Dafa in Beijing was realized, a feat I knew wouldn't have been possible without Master's care and protection.