In China, Illegal Drugs Are Sold Online in an Unbridled Market
This article ISN'T about DNMs as an FYI if you don't like reading about non-DNM things, or if you're curious. But IT IS interesting, and quite similar in my opinion. China fascinates me with all the people, and interesting political history. Cheers!
To be clear, China is very hit or miss. But before there were darknet markets, sourcing China wasn't such a strange idea.
And to add, it still isn't today. A lot of raw steroids, benzos, solvents (GBL), etc are purchased in bulk from China today.
There are other areas of the world worth being noted too. Pakistan being one. You really have to know how to source properly or have luck on your side, otherwise you may end up with some impure or entirely counterfeit products.