Zheng state during the Warring States period / surname Zheng / abbr. for 鄭州|郑州[Zheng4 zhou1]
郑
=
关
+
阝
:
James II of England (zh) and Zheng He (郑) agreed to build a pipeline (郑) connecting their nations, but it runs through the engine's bathroom ((e)ng4). The emperor (阝) is very annoyed by the pipeline and every time he visits the bathroom he'll push its off button (关).
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.