While other kids his age were at family cookouts or chillin' with friends, Hao Wang, 16, was striding along Boston Avenue in Bridgeport on Wednesday, protesting persecution in China.
His 20-mile Independence Day walk through the region came just hours after Chinese authorities claimed that as many as 16 Falun Gong members had committed mass suicide in a prison camp in June. Supporters of the banned sect, however, claim they were tortured and beaten to death.
Wang, of Boston, was one of a half-dozen supporters of the movement who marched from Orange to Fairfield as part of a 24-day protest walk from Boston to Washington, D.C.
The trip protests what they say is China's maltreatment of practitioners of Falun Gong, a group of five meditative exercises similar to tai chi that the Communist government considers a dangerous religious cult.
We're very concerned about the persecution in China, Wang said. The Chinese government is trying to stop people from speaking out.
The 450-mile walk began June 26 in Watertown, Mass., and the group entered Connecticut on Saturday, getting as far as Mystic that day.
China considers those who practice Falun Gong -- also known as Falun Dafa -- a dangerous cult and has banned it for the past two years.
Falun Gong members say the Chinese government feels threatened by the spiritual practice because it has become more popular than the Communist Party.
Wang said banning Falun Gong is absurd, because it's a legitimate way of attaining physical and spiritual health. It's similar to jogging in the morning, Wang said. No one wants to give up jogging, because there's nothing bad about it.
The government also vigorously clamps down on Falun Gong demonstrators, and has reportedly imprisoned hundreds.
On June 20, up to 16 Falun Gong followers died in a north China labor camp. China claims the victims, mostly women, committed suicide by making ropes from sheets and hanging themselves from bunk beds.
Officials said camp guards stopped another 11 prisoners from committing suicide.
I don't think anyone believes that, said Tracey Zhu of Bethany. I don't think they committed suicide.
Falun Gong followers maintain that some 220 other practitioners have died in police custody since the July 1999 ban. Independent sources say more than 100 have died.
The ban came seven years after the group began operating in China.
Wang has relatives in China, including an aunt he said is being spied on by the Chinese government. We call her on the phone and we can hear her being very nervous, Wang said.
Wednesday, the group of five protesters walked along Route 1 through Orange, Milford, Stratford, Bridgeport and Fairfield, distributing information about Falun Gong and carrying a sign that read Stop the Killing in China.
Susie Truong of Boston said the march was kept small for safety reasons. We didn't want it getting out of hand, she said.
Truong said she heard about the walk through friends and wanted to participate. I knew I should come and support and get the message out about persecution in China, she said.
The walkers will leave Connecticut on Friday and are expected to arrive in Washington July 18.
Wednesday's group also included Benjamin Zgodny of Hamden, who drove a support van alongside the group, handing out bottles of water.
Zgodny said he wanted to help the protesters in some way because he practices Falun Gong himself and thinks the movement has merit.
It's a very good cause, he said.
Further information on the walk can be obtained at www. walktodc.org. General information on Falun Gong can be obtained at www.falundafa.org