China White was originally a street name for a very pure form of heroin. It was likely called China White because it was first imported from China. Pure heroin also looks like white powder.

A new form of fentanyl — alpha-methylfentanyl — was discovered in California in the 1980s, according to a 1981 study published in Analytical Chemistry. Some dealers are believed to have mixed alpha-methylfentanyl with China White heroin during that time period. That may be how alpha-methylfentanyl came to be known as China White.

Street names for drugs change over time, and some people started calling any form of fentanyl the nickname China White.

Heroin addiction