This delightful little poem translates as

Be born in Suzhou
Live in Hangzhou
Eat in Guangzhou
Die in Liuzhou

Allegedly, the most beautiful people are from Suzhou, while Hangzhou is rated as China's most beautiful city.

Guangzhou (Canton) is, of course, the home of Cantonese food, supposedly the best China has to offer. All highly debatable. In fact, having visited all of the cities mentioned, I don't agree with any of the claims!

But what has poor Liuzhou done to merit its reputation as a great place to die? Well, it seems that in the past the best coffins were made here. Apparently, this was due to the fine quality of wood in the surrounding forests. They were made from fir wood, camphor wood, and sandalwood, which were believed to preserve the body after death.

The forests have long gone along the way of the occupants of all those coffins. Now the only industry connected with dying seems to be Liuzhou Cigarette Company.

However, there is a hangover of the tradition in that many visitors to Liuzhou buy souvenir miniature coffins. These are inscribed

shēng guān fā cái

which means "Win promotion and get rich". There is a play on words here, as the second and fourth characters sound exactly like 棺材 guān cái which is "coffin".

The coffins come in various sizes from about 2cm long and up. They all open to reveal a secret internal chamber.