Urban Legends

' Guangzhou's Su1c1de Shopping Plaza '

This is a Chinese Urban Legend.
Many mentions of Su1c1de.

Many Cantonese see it as no coincidence that the cursive-like character 'guang' (广) outside of Liwan Plaza in Guangzhou bears an uncanny resemblance to the word for corpse (尸). Since 2004, about a dozen suicides have occurred on the premises (), with some witnesses claiming that a supernatural force seemingly pushed victims over the railings.

The mall's deadly curse, according to local residents, began many years ago, when it was first constructed. If you've ever watched Poltergeist, you'll know never to build on ancient burial grounds, but you wouldn't expect a bunch of real estate developers to know that, would you?

Home to a Qing Dynasty sacrificial chamber, inspectors failed to notice eight empty coffins when erecting Liwan Plaza, now a large jewelry market near Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street. Unearthed during construction, some say the coffins were the cradle of strange noises and mysterious deaths that kept storefronts ruinously empty.

To counteract the malevolence, architects made the building resemble an octagon, like the Bagua.

Eventually, a Taoist priest informed landlords that the empty coffins had originally been buried to thwart evil influences. The catch was that they were not to be disturbed for a thousand years.