Guangzhou (also known as Canton) is one of the world's great cosmopolitan entrepôts. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, it was through this city and its environs that opium was funneled into China by British, American and Indian merchants. This trade was to have an enormous impact, not just on China but the whole world. Its influence on India was especially significant, for the subcontinent was the world's leading opium-producing region under the British Raj.

Amitav Ghosh's talk — based on his research for The Ibis Trilogy — explores Guangzhou as an Indian trader might have seen it in the 19th century. A light reception and book signing follows the program.