Opium became a threat that weakened the Chinese society in the 19th century so much so the Qing Empire ordered the confiscation and destruction of more than twenty thousand packages of drugs coming mainly from British India, an event that led to the First Opium War (1839-1842).
China lost against the British and was forced to open five ports for foreign trade besides handing over Hong Kong. A second war, where Imperial China fought against several allied European colonies from 1856 to 1860, ended with the destruction of the Summer Palace in Beijing, heralding the decline of the Chinese Empire.
Bats, a symbol of longevity and good fortune, are engraved over all the surface of this opium pipe, which is part of the pipe collection that Pedro Del Río collected during his travels around the world.