They were silently marking the birthday of Falun Gong founder, Li Hongzhi, who lives in exile in the United States. Witnesses said some followers were kicked and beaten by police as they were detained.
Members say thousands of practitioners have been rounded up since the ban.
Kicking Followers arrived in Tiananmen Square early in the morning and began meditating in small groups. Witnesses said demonstrators managed to unfurl large banners bearing the name of their movement before they were arrested. Many were middle-aged women who got quietly into the police vans after being detained. Police also forced tourists with cameras to expose their film, and one with a video camera was detained. Crackdown Falun Gong, which claimed tens of millions of followers in China before it was outlawed, combines traditional Chinese breathing exercises with Buddhist and Taoist philosophies.