Monday, July 17, 2006

Cruising For A Bruising (NYC Day 4)

Decided to talk the New York Harbour cruise. The full cruise is three hours long and costs $30.

Next to the harbour where the cruises start in the Chinese Consulate. Some practicioners of Falun Gong were staging a silent protest. As I stopped to take a photo, I was given a book and magazine about the Falun Gong and the persecution that they suffer in China:
The day before Chen Zixiu died, her captors again demanded that she renounce her faith in Falun Gong. Barely conscious after repeated jolts from a cattle prod, the 58-year old shook her head.

Enraged, the local officials ordered Ms. Chen to run barefoot in the snow. Two days of torture had left her legs bruised and her short black hair matted with pus and blood, said cellmates and other prisoners who witnessed the incident. She crawled outside, vomited and collapsed. She never regained consciousness, and died on 21 st February, 2000


The harbour cruise was great. The guide, although annoying, gave a very detailed commentary which included the history of New York City and its people.

After dinner I visited the Empire State Building. The sunset alone was worth the cost of the ticket. My camera has a sunset-mode, which worked well.

No comments: