blog 9

常常春天有雨天。 今天是雨天了，也很凉爽。 晚上是冷了。 明天将要晴天。气温左右五十度华氏。 现在上海气温是三十八度摄氏。

In 15th century China, opium was used for recreation, sparingly, because it was rare and expensive. The Chinese never had a problem with it until the 17th century when it was mixed with tobacco when people realized how addictive it was. Opium was banned in 1729, after which the consumption of opium increased drastically. This was because the British encouraged the Chinese to use opium, and sold it to them very cheaply from their sources in the British-controlled India. (Britain did it because their trading with China caused a decrease in British silver stock). The emperor of China tried to confiscate it, which led to two wars, after which Britain supressed China and used it as an opportunity to spread opium to other countries in the world. By 1905, about a quarter of China's population was addicted to opium. Opium has become less used now, and it's used for medicine, like morphine, codeine, heroin, and it is regarded as the best pain killer.