Authorities in a city in southwest China have banned the sale of the French perfume Opium because the name undermines socialist morality, the Guangxi Daily said Friday.
Officials of the Industrial and Commercial Administration in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, seized Opium perfume on sale at a shopping center in mid-August and banned the perfume, the newspaper said. It gave no further details."Opium pour Homme" is manufactured by Yves Saint Laurent.
The word "opium" brings back humiliating memories of the 1839-42 Opium War, which imperial China lost to Britain, forcing it to cede Hong Kong.