邓
=
又
+
阝
:
Back in the days, Deng Xiaoping (邓), the Imperator (阝) and Don Quixote (d) all had ambitions to become the leader of China. They decided to settle their dispute in a boxing match to the death in the engine's bathroom ((e)ng4). We all know that Deng Xiaoping emerged from the legendary battle as the winner, standing on the Imperator's and Don Quixote's backs, lifting his boxing gloves (又) towards the sky.
prefecture / (old) province / (old) administrative division / state (e.g. of US) / oblast (Russia) / canton (Switzerland)
州
=
丶
+
丷
+
川
:
Mnemonic symbol: the red cotton tree, as it is the official flower of 广州 (Guangzhou). A new river (川) formed spontaneously in front of the outhouse (ou1), and James II of England (zh) was barely able to climb on a red cotton tree (州). Other animals are happy about this development: a mean crocodile (丷) is floating on a petal leaf (丶) towards the red cotton tree.
Sherlock Holmes (sh) started a supermarket (市) in the space station's bathroom (Ø4), but all he has for sale right now are berets (亠) and towels (巾). He should have opened it at the beach!