Staff of Selling Dept Counting Dealers Money 1915

Black and white photograph of seated staff in the selling department of an opium factory, Hong Kong, China. This picture is part of a series on opium production in Hong Kong. This photograph shows men at a government monopoly factory counting money with a special board with a hole for each coin. This photograph was taken in 1915, towards the end of the opium trade. The opium trade between Britain and China with was the result of two wars (1839-42 and 1856-60), and had a detrimental impact on the people of China where the drug was sold, and the people of India, where the drug was farmed.