Why does Shen Yun’s campus have security at the entrance?

We have security at our headquarters in New York because we are constantly being threatened and attacked. Over the last few years we have received over 200 death threats, sometimes on a daily basis. These emails threaten to bomb and mass shoot us, burn our buildings, rape our female dancers, and throw our kids from the rooftops. We’ve already experienced tire slashings, cutting of our security camera wires, nails strewn on our entry roads, and multiple incidents of vandalism and trespass by unknown individuals. Early on, the Chinese consulate drove right up to our gate. More recently, two CCP agents were arrested by the FBI for trying to sabotage us. Some of our students and staff have escaped persecution in China and still have family in China who are at risk or who have been threatened because their sons or daughters are in Shen Yun. One of our teachers had his home broken into and was beaten up by Asian men who only wanted his laptops. For us, even in America, the persecution and these threats are very real.

That having been said, our campus is actually a lot more porous than you might imagine. Not only do employees commute to and from work daily, we also receive many visitors—parents dropping off or picking up their children from school, Amazon delivery trucks, guest teachers, as well as state and county inspectors. We would rather not need this security. We would prefer that you and everyone else could come visit us at Dragon Springs, see the beauty of the Tang Dynasty architecture, and enjoy a performance in our stunning Shen Yun Theater. We hope someday soon you will be able to.