Why Does Shen Yun’s Tour Bus Require 24-Hour Guarding? — What I Know About the Untold Stories Behind
I was deeply saddened to hear that the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts canceled five Shen Yun performances due to a false bomb threat email.
Sending such a threat email costs the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virtually nothing. If this logic continues, does it mean Shen Yun may no longer be able to perform anywhere in the future?
Yesterday, Michael Hu, a former entrepreneur from Shanghai flew all the way from Florida to New York to watch Shen Yun at Lincoln Center. He was extremely emotional and proud, calling Shen Yun an “epic-level performance.” From a business management perspective, he also remarked how difficult it must be to manage an organization of over a thousand people with eight touring companies—especially while dealing with situations like bomb threats.
In reality, Shen Yun has endured tremendous hardship over the years. Behind it are countless contributions from Falun Gong practitioners working as volunteers—efforts that are largely unknown. Here are just a few facts I am aware of:
👉 In the early days, when Shen Yun lacked recognition and funds for advertising, many practitioners drove to residential neighborhoods, distributing flyers door to door. Some walked all day, only to end up with blisters on their feet by nightfall.
Even flyer distribution required careful planning. To avoid duplication and ensure full coverage, people had to study maps, design routes, and mark completed areas for future scheduling. This demanded significant effort and coordination.
👉 Then there is the issue of security. Unlike typical performing groups, Shen Yun must address risks others do not. For example, if their buses are left unattended, tires could be slashed, or flammable substances could be added to fuel tanks—incidents that have reportedly occurred multiple times. If undetected, such tampering could lead to catastrophic consequences on the highway.
December 27, 2025 — Shen Yun tour truck parked outside The Palace Theater in Waterbury, CT, USA. (Photographed by myself.)
As a result, wherever Shen Yun performs, local practitioners arrange round-the-clock shifts to guard the buses, ensuring no sabotage occurs.
The annual performance season begins around Christmas. In North America’s winter, this means volunteers stand outside in freezing temperatures, without heating, staying alert through the night, never taking their eyes off the bus for even a second to prevent sabotage. What a huge sacrifice this is!
👉 Regarding the performers’ meals: For the same security reasons, when Shen Yun performers are on tour, they basically cannot eat outside. If they did, the CCP might seize the opportunity to poison them. In such cases, local Falun Gong practitioners have to organize people to cook for them. This involves finding a suitable, large enough place that can prepare meals for over a hundred people, purchasing ingredients, cooking the food, and then delivering it to where the performers can eat. The workload and coordination required are enormous.
Moreover, in some places there are very few Falun Gong practitioners, so they have to ask for help from other areas. It’s completely uncertain who will be available to come…
Basically, except for retired Falun Gong practitioners, most people have regular jobs. To participate in Shen Yun’s promotion or logistical support, they have to find ways to solve the time issue themselves — using annual leave, swapping shifts, or taking time off. The coordination work involved is almost impossible to measure.
I have never participated in cooking for Shen Yun, but I did join the “cleanup” work once after the performances ended and cooking was no longer needed. It was in a kitchen borrowed from a Falun Gong practitioner’s home. Just washing all the used kitchenware, loading it into the car, transporting it back to the owners’ houses, and then distributing and properly handling all the remaining ingredients took several people an entire afternoon to complete.
👉 There is also on-site service at the theater, security, backstage support during performances, washing and ironing costumes, and countless other tasks — all of which are voluntarily undertaken by local Falun Gong practitioners.
If all this labor were paid, ticket prices might exceed $500 and still not cover costs.
Yet, to bring this performance—one that embodies truth, compassion, and beauty—to audiences at accessible prices, countless Falun Gong practitioners have been quietly and selflessly contributing for many years.
So please cherish Shen Yun and cherish the selfless dedication of the countless people behind it. The reason they can devote themselves so fully is not for themselves (they have never taken a single cent), but because they believe that everyone who gets to see Shen Yun is blessed.
Just as Michael Hu said, “Everyone should watch Shen Yun once. Every Chinese person needs to truly understand Falun Gong. This is something every Chinese person must do — it is a form of self-redemption.”
For more unknown stories behind Shen Yun, please watch the documentary filmed by NTD:
UNBROKEN: The Untold Story of Shen Yun
Book a Shen Yun ticket at shenyun.com.
4/3/2026
December 27, 2025 — Me in front of the Shen Yun truck before attending the performance at The Palace Theater in Connecticut, USA.
