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Qingyuan Shan is a national park and lies 3km (2
miles) to the north of Quanzhou. It has been attracting visitors
for over 1,000 years and is a very scenic area with woods, streams,
small hills, stone crags and caves.
One striking feature of Qingyuan Shan is the giant
stone statue of a round old man who is presumed to be the revered
philosopher Laozi. It is thought to be the largest Daoist stone
sculpture in existence. Carved out of a single piece of rock, the
statue is 5 meters (17ft) high, and has a diameter of 7 meters (23ft).
Longevity is said to be granted to those who climb up and rub noses
with Laozi’s statue.
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