First off, the elephant in the room is, like, the *actual* Opium Wars. You can’t even *begin* to talk about Guangzhou and opium without mentioning the whole messy business from the 1800s. Seriously, the British were pushing opium into China, and Guangzhou was basically ground zero. We’re talking about Lin Zexu, that dude who burned all the British opium, and THEN boom, the British got all mad and started bombing Guangzhou. Not cool, Brits. Not cool. (It’s kinda ironic when you think about it, a city named Guangzhou is kinda where opium became a thing).
Now, there’s this thing, the Canton System. I vaguely remember reading something about it. Basically, it was a whole set of rules about how Westerners could trade with China, and Guangzhou was the *only* port they were allowed to use. So naturally, all the opium trade went down there. So the opium went down at the port of Guangzhou.
And THEN there’s the fact that Guangzhou was kinda a melting pot for all sorts of stuff. Like, that article mentions opium houses being EVERYWHERE in Guangzhou, “from the largest to the smallest.” That just makes it seem like opium was just part of the city’s fabric, y’know?
Okay, so now we have to talk about the *other* Black Opium. The perfume. I’m gonna be honest, I don’t see the connection, like, at ALL. But I guess maybe someone thinks there’s something exotic or mysterious about Guangzhou that links it to a perfume? That’s my best guess. Also, I think the perfume Black Opium is by Yves Saint Laurent. I’m not sure.
And the Guanyin pavilion?! Who knew? I thought it was just a temple, but no, it was the headquarters for the European forces when they were occupying Guangzhou. Honestly, it’s like every corner of the city is steeped in history.
