Opium Dens in Cardiff

From Cardiffpedia

Cardiff has long had a Chinese population. Around the turn of the century it had been noted that opium dens were appearing disguised as Chinese launderies (1). But it wasn't until the 1920's and a high profile case in Cardiff that government decide to clamp down on these and consequently other drugs that were previously available. It was the case of the three sisters from Canton, found partially naked and unconscious with the body of a dead Chinese man, Yee Sing a.k.a. Johnny Hop in an opium filled room above a laundry in Lower Cathedral Road, that sparked the impetus for change.

This case, along with several other high profiles cases, sparked many a lurid novel, as exemplified by Sax Rohmers Fu -Manchu, and helped cause the 'Yellow Peril' scare. This was the fear of Oriental dope fiends and white women. The government stopped blocking drug controls in the then colonies, ironic considering not a hundred years earlier they had gone to war to enforce China to accept 'British' opium.