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You arrive in Shanghai looking for adventure. You leave as a ghost no one remembers.
Welcome to the slow, smoky collapse of a life undone — not by war, but by commerce.

In this immersive, softly narrated historical story, you’ll follow the descent of one lost soul in 19th-century Shanghai as they fall into the grip of the British Empire’s most profitable addiction: opium. From your first drag in a crumbling den to your last breath beside a pile of forgotten bodies, this episode explores the quiet violence of colonial trade, imperial decay, and the ghosts left behind by both.

Perfect for bedtime listening, this story blends dry humor, dark history, and vivid sensory detail in the style of Calm History and Boring History for Sleep — with a tone that’s more whisper than lecture, and more unsettling than soothing.

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