China in the late 1800s (edited)

Through this blog I am going to make a connection to an event we learned about earlier. What we learned before about China is that, like a sponge, it sucked up most of the world's silver by exporting many products. This was profitable in the short run, but eventually China lost tons money because countries stoped trading with them as much. China also made the mistake of creating cash crops. They ruined natural recourses like forests, to make room for cash crops like rice which they then exported and got silver in return. During the mid to late 19th century China lost most of its silver they had accumulated over the past hundreds of years through maritime trade. The reason for the reverse trading was the introduction of OPium. This drug created many problems in China and without a strong government, China was easy pray to Western countries and also Russia and Japan. "China was carved out like a melon." China tried to crack down on the drug problem, causing them to bump heads with the ultra powerful British Empire. England grew the poppied in India and then traded them with China. Lin Xexu, a strict Chinese official, destroyed 3 million pounds of Opium without compensation. Thus begun the first of a couple "opium wars." Each caused China to sucumb to unfair treaties with Britain allowing further dug trading.