By Bill Brown

　　Old stone saint

　　Northern Quanzhou has one of Taoism's most sacred sites: Mount Qingyuan. From the mid seventh century, Taoist alchemists in Ciji hall sought the elixir of eternal life. In the end, their mortality rate was the same as ours: one hundred percent.

　　Tourists visit the mountain today to enjoy the rocks, forests, springs and the Song dynasty 5.5-meter statue of Lao Zi, the founder of Taoism. This is the largest Taoist sculpture in China. It is said that if you rub his nose you will live to be 120 years old. However, so many centuries worth of pilgrims had rubbed him the wrong way that he was starting to resemble a Pekinese, so they've fenced the old man off now.

　　老君岩

　　道教圣地清源山座落于泉州北郊。从七世纪中期起，道教的炼金术士在道观紫泽宫使出浑身解数，寻找长生不老药。他们最终一无所获，因为他们的死亡率和我们现在的一样，都是100%。

　　今天游客们来到清源山欣赏山石、森林、流泉以及建于宋代高5.55米的老君石像，也就是道教的创始人老子的石像。这是中国最大的道教石雕像。据说，能摸到他的鼻子，就可活到120岁。数百年来，人们争相摸鼻，摸扁了老子的鼻子，管理人员只好用围栏护住这位老人。