How popular is Falun Gong in China?

The issue doesn't get the press it deserves. I think partially because it is so hard to report on it in China. So it seems like it has dwindled. But according to Falun Gong websites like http://faluninfo.net/ there seem to still be millions in China practicing and resisting the persecution. Arthur Waldron from UPenn has a great essay on the importance of the issue still called Falun Gong Factor. http://faluninfo.net/article/504/

Reading an outsiders opinion about the situation is not going to answer the question. There are still many millions of Chinese people that practice Falun Dafa in China. Despite the persecution of them by the Communist Regime, they continue to live their values and resist the persecution.

You’re correct that the group was very popular prior to the persecution in 1999. Falun Gong has no system of membership, so any estimates on the number of practitioners is going to be imprecise. But with that caveat, in 1998 China’s State Sports Commission estimated there were about 70 million people practicing Falun Gong; another government sources put the number at 40 million. After July 1999, the government publicly claimed there were only about 2.1 million practitioners, but leaked internal documents continue using higher reference numbers.Gauging the number of practitioners in China today is even more difficult. Certainly, many people stopped practicing when the government crackdown began, fearing the loss of jobs, schooling, or the risk of imprisonment. Many of those who were imprisoned were forced to renounce their beliefs in custody, usually as a result of physical and psychological torture. And, more grimly, an untold number of practitioners have been killed in custody.However, there is evidence that a large number of people—several million at least—continue to practice Falun Gong in secret. This evidence comes from both Falun Gong sources and Chinese government sources.For instance, there are internal party and government documents online that refer to mid-sized cities with tens of thousands of “registered” Falun Gong practitioners (registered by the Chinese security agencies, that is). In a leaked speech from several years ago, a provincial-level official said there were 310,000 practitioners under surveillance in just his one province. In some areas, government documents note that the practice is gaining in popularity. There’s also quite a lot of anecdotal data about people who stopped practicing due to fear of persecution, but who picked it up again later or after they left China.

From my knowledge there are tens of millions practicing Falun Gong in China, despite the brutal persecution. Once someone has benefited from the practice why should he renounce it?!For many years the Chinese Communist Party - an entity that is promoting the violence and struggle theory - is persecuting to death Falun Gong practitioners in China, aldough they are their own people.Falun Gong it is a peaceful meditation practice that has at its core the principles truthfulness, compassion and forbearance.The fact that there were 70-100 milion people practicing Falun Gong în 1999, including hight ranking party officials, a number larger than that of the party members, the ideological oposition and the ex communist lider Jiang Zemin personal ambitions, has led to this brutal genocide.I recommend you to watch this youtube video from China Uncensored. It answers some of the most basic questions:I have great respect for the 5.000 years of chinese civilisation. Unfortunately, the Communist Party is betraying and persecuting its own people. I am sure that at one point the people will eventually wake up in China. When the people there will find out about the crimes of the CCP they will not stand it anymore. China is a great country and it deserves better.