Of Forests and Graves

How do you turn a forest into a grave? Check out this innovative ad I spotted on the Shanghai Metro:

The (altered) character is 森, meaning “forest.” The text below it reads:

如果没有了树，森林将变成坟墓

In English:

If the trees all disappear, forests will turn into graves.

To understand the message, you have to know that the character 森, meaning “forest,” is made up of three 木, which each mean “tree.” And 木 does indeed look like a little cross when you take away the two diagonal strokes.

Part of what makes this interesting to me is that crosses are, of course, not a feature of Chinese graveyards at all. Here’s a picture of a Chinese cemetary:

Still, innovative ad that drives the point home. Well done.