In 19th-century Chinese society, opium smoking was accepted as a social grace. To both the elite and the poor, offering a guest an opium pipe was likened to serving tea. Situated in Guangdong Province, Kwang-Chou-Wan became known as Territoire de Kouang-Tchéou-Wan (as inscribed on this postcard) after it was annexed by the French in 1898.
