A Full Day Inside Shen Yun’s Headquarters | Life at Dragon Springs

Hey, welcome back. We're the >> Three Musketeers >> and today we have a very special episode because we're taking you inside Dragon Springs. >> There's a lot of speculation curiosity about this place. Today we're going to show you guys what it's really like here. >> All right, let's go. >> Let's go. >> Dragon Springs is [music] a 400 acre nonprofit campus in upstate New York. Home to Fatian Academy of the Arts, Theten College, Shinjun Performing Arts, and features Buddhist style temple grounds. All right, good morning everybody. Right now, we're on our way to Dragon Springs and we're just pulling up to the security. You guys might be curious why there's security at Dragon Springs, but we're going to talk about that later. >> Good morning. >> Hi. Good morning. >> All right. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right. So, right now we're in our dance studio and the first thing we usually do every day is have our company class, but recently we're preparing for our dance evaluation. [music] That's something we do twice a year for all of our Shen dancers. So, we're pretty nervous right now and got to warm up soon. Gi is here already. He is definitely ready for class. Look at him. So happy right now. No dance shoes in the studio. >> What are you doing? >> He has to get fined for that. He's buy snacks now. Are you ready for the dance evaluation? >> Yes, I am. >> Okay, let's see. Let's see about that later. Okay, let's go. Let's get ready. So, Home Son is a principal dancer, very good at dancing. thing obviously. Hi, stop walking. Wait, don't be scared. Okay, put this mic close your mouth. Okay, I just want to ask you this environment here in Drying Springs, has it impacted you any way? Chinese. >> Yeah, you can try. I mean,ch. >> [music] >> Good. Good job. Only son. Only son keeps telling me he's not good at talking. He's really good at talking. J, come into the frame, please. >> Okay, Jimmy, people online are saying all kinds of things about us. They're saying this place is a compound. We lock people up. It's scary here. What do you think about this? >> Uh, I say don't believe everything you hear from the media. There are rules like any other companies. You know, even if you work on an Amazon, you know, warehouse, you can't just have like random homeless person just like walk in, right? Yeah. Like, yeah, there are rules like that. >> It's basic stuff, I think. >> Yeah, it's basic stuff. Like you you come here and you work hours and then when you're done, you go home. That's it. >> Yeah. Jimmy, thanks for the interview. I've learned a lot from Jimmy. So, >> I mean, I learned a lot from this guy. He's my hero. >> No, how am I How am I your hero? >> All right, guys. It is lunch time and we're eating at our bakery, >> guys. Handmade pizzas. This is better than anything around here. I don't know about anything, but it's very, very good for Dragon Springs pizza. The best pizza here. All right, enjoy our lunch. This is the one of the best parts of day. Sampoo always eats three pastries, right? >> This place has bubble tea. >> I got a green tea. >> Okay. Bread here is really good, but it's sold out right now. I'm sad. >> All sorted out. But in the morning, this place is pretty packed. >> Oh my gosh. What are you pizza? Are you serious? >> Yes, I'm being serious. >> Is that what you actually do to your >> Yeah. So, I was just >> I also add mayonnaise, but only to the crust. >> It's about the same amount. I just put it like >> No, you're slightly more. Okay, this is a very decadent meal. I don't eat pizza every single day. Usually, I'm at the cafeteria. I like to fish it up a little bit every so often. >> Guys, this is my pizza. Very simple, clean meal. >> Okay, let's enjoy our meal. >> Right now, we're in the supermarket. So, this is where we usually like to go after lunch to just browse around a little bit. They have a lot of snacks. It's very, very tempting, you know. Dude, we have so much. >> Where else can you get the snack section? >> Jes snack selection. And he has corn. He also got a bunch of jam. >> Sorry, I got bored already. Sorry, I was bored. [laughter] >> Bored is cheap. That is important thing. When I go outside and then go to like HMart and stuff, let's say it's like I spend like $50 there, then with the $25, I can get everything. >> It's a lot more affordable for the store. >> Yeah. Affordable for >> ice cream. >> Oh, ice cream. I'm going low on sugar recently, but this is my favorite. >> What ice cream do you want after a meal? >> They have a lot of Asian ice cream. It has matcha in the center, chocolate, and then it has this waffle kind of thing. It's like a ice cream sandwich. >> Taiwan green tea. I like this. >> I used to buy that, but realized it's cheaper just to buy a huge one. So, I bought a huge one. >> The selection of stuff here is overwhelming. Too many choices. >> Yo, these are all pretty good, too. Like this. >> Oh, Korean. Korean snacks good, guys. Korean snacks good. And it's not just snacks, she Okay, there's stuff like shampoo. We have all >> You don't have to tell me. I know it already. >> I recommend this product for shampoo. It's a hair serum. It makes you grow more hair. >> Really? >> This is a very big concern for my life. >> Okay. Got all the good stuff here. And then Jung has a recommending a toothpaste. >> Buy this toothpaste. That's all you need. >> That's a really good toothpaste. >> Okay. My mom made this. >> It's pretty good. I might use it. >> Of course, it's pretty good. My mom made it because it's my mom made it, you know. I feel bad to say, "Oh, you know, this is good." You know, >> it's fine. If it's good product, it's good product. >> It's not just rehearsals and dancing here and playing music. It's about quality products like this toothpaste is made by a Korean guy and his mom. >> No, but all jokes aside, we have a lot of stuff here. We have like basketball courts, pool tables, and we have a lot of festivals, which we actually make a lot of dances for. >> Is a master choreographer. >> I think it's time to go, though. >> How about to go? Next, we're heading over to Fatian Academy of the Arts where all three of us went to school. We'll show you around and maybe talk to some of the students. All right, guys. So, after lunch, this is when the students have academic classes and we're going to check out what they're doing. Just be a little bit quiet. Don't want to disturb them. Okay. They're doing their school work right now. What are you working on? B >> topics in Chinese history. Yeah. >> The debate of iron and salt. Is that a interesting class [laughter] watch? >> Yeah. like it. >> I'll leave you to your work. >> Caught this guy. >> What are you doing? >> What are you doing? Are you Are you >> I'm watching this review video. >> Okay. He's actually studying. Which class is this? >> This is environmental science. >> Your favorite class? Probably. >> Uh, not really. [laughter] It's >> called least favorite. Which one is this? >> No. Least favorite. My least favorite is probably >> Wait, wait, wait. >> This is going to go online. I can't say it. >> My favorite. My favorite. Uh, I'm just going to say Chinese. >> Okay. very funny. It was funny. >> Sorry for interrupting. >> No problem. >> Okay, so right now I am outside Faith Library. Will has to go teach a class because he is a dance teacher. So right now I'm taking over, but we got to be quiet. Okay. Unfortunately, while I was a student, I didn't come to the library very much. But I think this place is great with all these books, and I should have come more often. >> Yeah, that's fair. disturbing class right now. >> But for the book analysis, informational is okay this time. >> Here is Mr. Mantic. Actually, Mr. Mantic, do you ever teach me before? >> I don't think so. You're really old. [laughter] >> Sorry. >> So, Mr. Mantic, can you tell us a little bit about what makes Faith uh unique? >> Uh, we are an elite dance and music school, [music] but we still at the same time have the regular New York curriculum. So, we kind of combine the arts and the academics all together. We [music] have this big emphasis on dance and music that you will not see in other schools [music] and we cultivate that to a very high level of artistry. That's uh something really special about our school. >> So what about Fiten College though? [music] >> Fiten College is a fully accredited uh college that's also housed here. We kind of share some of our facilities like cafeteria. We'll see the different students there and things like that. >> I'm going be honest with you, Mr. Mantic. When I used to come to the library, I used to sleep. >> Ooh. Um, >> you weren't my teacher, so I think that's okay, right? >> Yeah. Yeah, it's fine. >> But if you do it again, you're in big trouble. >> Okay, let's see who we can interview. >> Hey, you. >> Uh, here, take this mic. Just going to ask you a couple questions. Don't feel like it's interrogation. >> Uh, what is your name and what do you do? >> I'm Justin Shei and I'm a student at Fatian Academy of the Arts doing some library work. >> Okay, I'm going to check your work. Are you actually working doodling? Okay. >> My handwriting sucks. Do you have any uh big things coming up like big performances? >> Um I actually have a dress rehearsal like literally tomorrow. I'm kind of nervous for it. But >> what's that about? >> It's because I'm actually on practicum with Shen. So I get to like tour around the world at the same time while I'm like studying my academics. So it's pretty cool actually. >> If you could tell your younger self who just came to the FTN first day anything, what would you say? Uh, I'd probably just tell him to try his best to work hard cuz honestly when I first started out I wasn't too sure I would make it to be able to like go on tour with Shinuin and practicum and stuff. But now like here I am so I just tell myself to work hard cuz I'm going to make it eventually. So >> fist bump. >> Thank you. >> My name is Carla and I play the [music] cello. >> And my name is Emily and I also play the cello. >> Uh, what is your guys' favorite classical piece? Rockmanov piano concerto number two. Mine is Algar's cello concerto. >> Is there something special about FTN? >> I think that BTN is a really good place for growth and development. No one really judges you here and everyone just accept who you are. I think the environment here is [music] very pure and I think it actually helps me think about why I'm actually [music] playing my instrument. Is it for fame or is it for expressing the art? Awesomeness. All right, guys. Thanks for the interview. >> Okay, guys. We're finally at the temple area, and this is very, very special because these temples are all built in the Tong Dynasty architecture style. It's basically how they built it back in the day. >> This is actually where artists and students come to relax, meditate, and celebrate festivals. >> I mean, it's just cool to have this temples like right beside our classrooms. You can actually just go out after lunch and go for a walk and take in the scenery, and it's very special, and we're grateful for that. Okay, guys. So, we're going to open up this door and see what it looks like behind this. >> Welcome to the Tong Dynasty. Percy knock. Open. >> Wow. >> Check out those temples. And now, a lot of you might be curious, how did Dragon Springs come to be? Originally, it was actually built as a refuge for people who lost loved ones in the persecution of falling gong in China, especially orphans. And unfortunately, it's really hard for people to escape China to come to America. >> Yeah. And actually, a lot of our shing artists have lost family members in China because of the persecution of fallen gong. >> And for decades, the CCP has been trying to systematically destroy authentic traditional Chinese culture. And the persecution of fallen gong is really the last nail in the coffin. I think that's really why, you know, Shin Yun is also here and why Finian is here, too. Just like passing on our culture and tradition to the next generation and also sharing it with the world, right? Mhm. [laughter] >> You said everything. You said everything. I don't need to say anything. No problem. >> Add something. >> I agree. You know, nice, nice, nice. >> And now we said at the beginning of the video, why do we have security? >> It's simple. They're here to protect us and keep [laughter] us. It is simple. So, you can say it more simply. >> It's very common to have security on campuses. Like, there's been emails of bomb threats. So, there's legit concerns for our safety here. That's why the security is here. They're licensed. They're trained. They're in coordination with the local police station just to protect us. And guys, the most important thing though, it's very serious. We got bears here. We're in upstate New York. We have bears here. It's a legit concern. Okay. >> Sometimes I'm driving and there was one time a bear actually ran out at you. That's what happened. >> Yeah. Yeah. A bear ran out of me when I was driving. So, I'm actually happy that there's security here to watch out for that. Okay. >> Exactly. >> So, we hope you enjoyed our tour of Dragon Springs. >> You have a better understanding of [music] this place now. >> And see you guys next time. Subscribe first though. >> Subscribe. Like, comment, subscribe. >> Okay.