Itinerary · 10 days · balanced
China shopping circuit: Yiwu, Guangzhou, and Shanghai in 10 days
Yiwu wholesale market, Guangzhou factory-to-buyer districts, and Shanghai for retail and design sourcing.
This itinerary is organised around sourcing rather than tourism. Yiwu hosts the world's largest small-commodity wholesale market and is the end-point for tens of thousands of importers each year; Guangzhou's Tianhe and Haizhu districts offer electronics, fabric, jewellery, and fashion wholesale at comparable scale; Shanghai provides the luxury retail end of the spectrum plus a design and contemporary art scene useful for understanding where Chinese consumer taste is going. The trip works for both professional buyers and serious independent shoppers.
Day by day
Day 1 · shanghai
Arrive Shanghai — orientation
Fly into Shanghai Pudong. Check in near Jing'an or the French Concession for access to the better independent retail. Afternoon: walk from Xintiandi to Tianzifang to get a sense of Shanghai's mid-range design retail and the local brand scene.
Attractions: tianzifang, french-concession
Day 2 · shanghai
Shanghai — luxury retail and design districts
Morning on Huaihai Road (Shanghai's main luxury corridor) and the Nanjing Road flagship stores. Afternoon at the M50 Art District on Moganshan Road — a converted textile mill now housing contemporary galleries, useful for understanding emerging Chinese visual culture.
Attractions: m50-art-district
Day 3 · shanghai
Shanghai — antiques and specialist markets
Morning at the Dongtai Road Antique Market (check current status — street markets have varied in recent years;). Afternoon at the Qipu Road clothing wholesale area in Hongkou for budget fashion sourcing.
Day 4 · hangzhou
Day trip to Hangzhou — silk and tea sourcing
High-speed rail Shanghai to Hangzhou: 1 hour. Hangzhou is the centre of Chinese silk production — the China Silk City market (Zhongguo Sichou Cheng) in Qingchun Road area has wholesale and retail. The China National Tea Museum is a free half-day for understanding the tea trade before sourcing from Meijiawu village producers.
Attractions: china-national-tea-museum, west-lake-hangzhou
Day 5 · guangzhou
Fly to Guangzhou — wholesale orientation
Morning flight or high-speed rail Shanghai to Guangzhou (3 hours by rail). Check in near Tianhe — the central business district with easy access to multiple wholesale areas. Afternoon reconnaissance walk through the electronics market at Huaqiangbei (note: Huaqiangbei is actually in Shenzhen, 45 minutes away;).
Day 6 · guangzhou
Guangzhou — fabric and garment wholesale
Guangzhou's Zhongda Fabric Market in the Haizhu district is the largest textile wholesale zone in China — hundreds of buildings arranged by product category. Morning for fabric sourcing; afternoon for garment wholesale in the Shisanhang (Thirteen Hongs) area near Liwan Lake, where fast-fashion wholesale operates at scale.
Day 7 · guangzhou
Guangzhou — Canton Fair complex and export sourcing
The Canton Fair Import and Export Complex in Pazhou is open year-round for individual sourcing visits even outside the twice-yearly fair dates (April and October). The complex has permanent showrooms for electronics, hardware, furniture, and light industry. Afternoon: Shamian Island to decompress.
Attractions: shamian-island
Day 8 · shenzhen
Day trip to Shenzhen — Huaqiangbei electronics
Guangzhou to Shenzhen by metro or high-speed rail: approximately 45–60 minutes. Huaqiangbei district is the most concentrated electronics wholesale and component market in the world — multiple towers of booths selling components, finished goods, refurbished devices, and accessories. Return to Guangzhou by evening.
Day 9 · guangzhou
Travel to Yiwu — overnight arrival
High-speed rail Guangzhou to Yiwu (approximately 4 hours). Yiwu sits between Hangzhou and Wenzhou in Zhejiang province. Check into a hotel near the International Trade Mart — most buyers choose accommodation within walking distance of the market to reduce transit time between sectors.
Day 10 · yiwu
Yiwu International Trade Mart — full day sourcing
The Yiwu International Trade City (Yiwu Fu Tian Market) is divided into five districts covering toys, hardware, textiles, jewellery, and daily commodities. A full day covers only a portion of it. Buyers typically work with a local trading agent — several English-speaking agencies operate from offices adjacent to the market. Depart Yiwu in the evening for Hangzhou or Shanghai airport.
Budget guide (CNY per day)
| Backpacker | ¥400 |
| Mid-range | ¥950 |
| Comfortable | ¥2200 |
Budget figures cover accommodation and travel only — purchasing budgets vary enormously. MOQs at Yiwu often start at 100–500 units per SKU.
Cities covered
Attractions covered
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