"In the mainland, my heart always trembled when I practiced Falun Gong. Now I love you." She blames the movement's teachings on modern medicine for the death of her mother, who stopped taking her blood-pressure medication after joining Falun Gong.

No nails, no paint, the timber oiled that gives it a gold colour.

When the ABC approaches seeking an interview, they call the local police. A joint investigation by the ABC's Background Briefing and Foreign Correspondent has also found families damaged by their involvement with the movement and claims its teachings on modern medicine could have contributed to premature deaths, which Falun Gong denies.It comes at a time when media outlets linked to the movement are becoming serious players on the conservative side of America's media, throwing their weight behind Donald Trump and his tough stance on China.Falun Gong practitioners are a familiar sight in many cities across the world, calmly practicing their exercises in parks. "The Falun Dafa Association of Australia says it welcomes individuals of any sexual orientation to practice the discipline, but "like most world religions … espouses conservative sexual ethics".

About two weeks after the new law, it was gone. "Grace Woodard's neighbour Frank Ketcham, who took these photos, regularly treks through the forest to try to work out what's going on in the Dragon Springs compound.Dragon Springs is just a small slice of an expanding empire connected with Falun Gong.

Anna waited. "My intent was to fail on purpose so that I would not have to live at The Mountain." He says the high security is to stop Chinese spies from the embassy infiltrating the compound.

But the basics on border crossings and aged care are still being worked out.What can be done to fix a struggling town pedestrian mall?Almost 100 episodes of Doctor Who are currently missing — not through time or space, but from the BBC's own archives.

"I remember looking into his eyes and thinking, 'you are just another regular, pathetic man'," she says.On the way home driving south, Anna recalls how her mother was relieved.

Falun Dafa (auch Falun Gong genannt) ist eine buddhistische Selbstkultivierungspraxis auf hoher Ebene, die von Meister Li Hongzhi gegründet wurde. "And then when she did have time, she'd be looking at her watch all the time, because she had somewhere to go," Shani says.As time went on there was something for Colleen to do every day of the week, then it was a few nights a week too, then weekends.

"There's plausible deniability because Li has a range of teachings … that says 'if you're sick, go to the hospital', but then there are always parts of teaching that Master Li can cure all of your illnesses and you just have to believe in him.

Anna's mother had a favourite memory of her daughter she would proudly share with other Falun Gong practitioners. Last year, in an advertising blitz, The Epoch Times spent nearly $US2 million on Facebook ads which pushed a pro-Trump message. "The leader of Falun Gong claims that race mixing in humans is part of an alien plot to drive humanity further from the gods," says Anna. "Oh no, you cannot show your shoulders," the woman said. Facebook found BL spent more than $US9 million on ads that reached 55 million accounts. "The Epoch Times maintains it is not owned or operated by Falun Gong, but Ben Hurley, who worked on the Australian English-language edition, says it is in every sense a Falun Gong outlet. 1AM–5AM Reuters could not independently verify that the police were behind the removal of any banners.

Yang said she no longer feels safe in the city after the security law made the broadly defined crimes of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces punishable by up to life in prison.

"But we’re different from other groups in that we've already suffered 20 years of persecution.

"In Sydney's inner-west, another daughter is coming to terms with her estrangement from her mother. They're not a part of the organisation. "All the houses we've passed are practitioners, this is where some students and performers live there," she says.