To those who don’t know as yet, the QQS website is found at http://www.qqs2008.org/poc/.

Hopefully the site is user-friendly enough to maneuver around. You can find the memberlist/service dates/training schedule there.

Philip. =D

横看成岭侧成峰heng kan cheng lin che cheng feng 远近高低各不同 yuan jing gao di ge bu tong 不识庐山真面目 bu shi lu shan zhen mian mu 只缘身在此山中 zhi yuan sheng zai ci shan zhong

 A well-quoted verse by Song Dynasty poet Su Shi 苏轼 aptly describes the numerous façade of this renowned mountain.  Standing at 1474 meters, Mt Lushan, a famous scenic area and summer resort in the north of Jiangxi Province, China, is not only well known for its beautiful scenery with sheer peaks, clouds and fogs, and deep valleys, but also a historical, cultural, political & religious mountain.  Reputed as “the Kingdom of Prose & Mountain of Poetry”, Mt Lushan’s long history has inspired many prominent painters & writers to write prose, poetry (some 4000 verses), painting & calligraphic work about its beauty. 

Amazingly, this historical mountain is one of the spiritual centers of the Chinese civilization. Catholic & Christian churches and Islamic mosques can be found together with Buddhist and Taoist temples in this place.

In the early 19^th Century, an English missionary Edward Selby Little found Mt Lushan to be an ideal place to build villas for summer resorts. He established a company to take charge of overall planning & construction. By 1927, 560 villas were built attracting thousands of foreigners here to escape from the hot Chinese Summer. In addition he built churches, schools, hospitals & recreational facilities around these villas. A true 19^th century market place minister, isn’t he? 

One of the most famous is Meilu Villa of Chiang Kai-shek & Soong Mei Ling. The villa was a gift from one of Mdm Soong’s friend, an English woman missionary, Jane Barlee.

During the period of the People’s Republic, Lushan was the summer capital of Chiang. Not only he held many meetings here, it was a training center for his military, party & government officials.  

In 1937, Zhou Enlai, on behalf of Chinese Communist Party came to Mt Lushan to hold a conference with Chiang. After the People’s Republic of China was founded, Chairman Mao Zedong often spend his summer in Lushan. He held 3 important conferences of the Central committee of the Chinese Communist Party here.

Did I stir your interest to know more about Mt Lushan? If yes, you can get more information from the following website

http://www.cctv.com/english/20030816/100342.shtml 
http://www.jiujiang.gov.cn/English/land.htm 

The above poem is very beautiful.
To help some of us better appreciate it, below is my own literal translation & interpretation:

Literal Translation
Viewing at the horizon are the mountain ridge
Yet from the side one sees the peak
Looking from far & near, the mountain appear in high & low
I cannot know the true Lushan, as I am is in the midst of it 

Interpreted meaning
Differing conclusion comes from the various perspectives a person sees a situation.
If one is in the thick of a situation, can he really see the truth? 

Another famous poem of Lushan 

人间四月芳菲尽 (ren jian shi yue fang fei jing)
山寺桃花始盛开 (shan si tao hua shi Sheng kai)
常恨春归无觅处 (chang hen chuan gui wu mi chu)
不知转入此中来 (bu zhi zhuang ru ci zhong lai)

Literal Translation

April comes, the fragrance gone
Mountain temple peach blossom begin to bloom
Lamenting that Spring has gone away
Unknowingly it returns to here instead