In the rapid economic Chinese expansion, there was the resurgence of traditional culture, and along with it, the rise of nationalism.
The problem of nationalism, however, is that most in the society feel that their ancestors, as well as China, were the victims of colonialism and imperialism, and one of the most obvious examples is no other than the introduction of opium to China by first British, and later, many other western powers.
One of the most important aspect ignored was that after the introduction of opium by British, domestic Chinese warlords begun to grow opium themselves, in order to make money to support their arms build up in the war against each other. This movie carefully but indirectly remind the public that there are something Chinese need to look at themselves in their past history by presenting the story in this film.