Devoid of widespread spiritual togetherness, which is mostly due to tight governmental control and communist principles, China has been ripe for emerging religions and cults for many decades, and Falun Gong is one of the biggest to emerge in recent years.

Also known as Falun Dafa, Falun Gong is a spiritual belief system which was founded in China in 1992. It does not offer a messiah, although, it's leader, Li Hongzhi, claims that he can personally heal people. It does not claim to be a full-on religion, rather a form of spiritual practices - mostly meditation - and it's principles are based around three key elements; compassion, truthfulness, and tolerance.

Falun Gong teachings are purported to be derived from Qigong, Buddhist and Taoist teachings, and practitioners say they are also drawn from modern scientific knowledge, although Li Hongzhi's writings do include the stuff of science fiction. He describes the Falun Gong emblem as existing within each person's stomach, and apparently each of us also has a celestial eye within our forehead.