What was the source of opium in China before the opium war waged by British?
Before 1870s China used to get major supply of opium through the silk road. Most of opium that came in China this way was Turkish and Persian opium. The importation of opium peaked at 6,700 tons in 1879. The large demand of opium in China caused loss of silver that was used as the currency for trade. To stem the loss of Silver, China began domestic production of opium after 1858 and by 1906, China was producing 35,000 tons (85%) of the world’s supply and had 13.5 million addicts (27% of its male population). Major production areas were in the S.W.: Szechuan (200,000 piculs), Yunnan (30,000 piculs) and Kweichow (15,000 piculs).
