A headstrong male "Falun Gong" follower burned himself to death in Beijing at noon Friday.

Confused by the fallacy of "ascending to the heaven to achieve total success" and "shedding blood when it becomes unbearable" spread by Li Hongzhi, Falun Gong cult leader, now living in the United States, the man, named Tan Yihui, set himself ablaze near the Wanshou Road junction in Haidian District and died on the spot.

A preliminary investigation by the public security agency shows that Tan Yihui, 25, a shoe polisher, was from Changde City, Hunan Province. He had a junior secondary schooling and was unmarried. He left Changsha, capital city of Hunan Province, for Beijing by train on February 15.

(CIIC 02/16/2001)