He feels he is part of an effort to restore standards that decades of Communist attacks on people's beliefs have destroyed. Not too long ago, Mr. Li gave little thought to such spiritual matters, striving for the promotions and business trips abroad that define success in modern China. He worked as an accountant at a textile mill, got married and had a son, who is now 12. Last October, Brother Li was suddenly forced to decide how much Falun Dafa meant to him. Worried about pressure from its government masters, managers at his state-owned mill told him that he should stop practicing.
Pagers are cheap here, and so are phone calls.
He bought his cell phone, which he rarely uses now, when he had a job. With his wife's salary as a clerk in a factory, the Li family just makes ends meet. Life is a test to see if you can be a good person. He is interrupted again by his pager. It's another follower from Guangdong province who needs a fellow believer picked up at the airport.